Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Man found guilty in fatal shooting outside hookah bar

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Carlos Orellana

Jurors found on Wednesday that a 24-year-old Las Vegas man was not justified in shooting to death another man brawling outside a hookah bar near Henderson last year.

Carlos Orellana, 24, was found guilty of second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in the shooting death of 21-year-old Brandon Gahagan.

Gahagan died in the parking lot outside the Olive Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar at about midnight Feb. 1, 2009, after a fight spilled out from inside the bar.

He was also found guilty of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon in the shooting of Ernesto Martinez, 20, who wasn’t involved in the fight but was shot in the shoulder and suffered a broken arm.

Jurors could have convicted Orellana of first-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or found him not guilty under the pretense the shooting was justified.

Sentencing was set for June 23 in front of District Court Judge Doug Smith.

Testimony indicated Orellana wasn’t involved in the fight but intervened with a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol when he saw his friend, Mike Opiola, and Gahagan fighting in the parking lot.

At first, Orellana fired warning shots and some of the people near the fight scattered. But when Gahagan, who was on top of Opiola, didn’t stop throwing punches, Orellana shot him in the back, witnesses testified.

Orellana then fired the shot that struck Martinez, before firing another round into Gahagan’s chest, witnesses said.

Gahagan was pronounced dead at the scene. The Clark County Coroner’s Office said he died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide.

Orellana’s attorneys argued throughout the trial that their client was justified in pulling the trigger because he was acting in the defense of another person. Under Nevada law, if a homicide is found to be justifiable or excusable, it isn’t punishable.

Prosecutors said the use of deadly force wasn’t necessary.

More than a dozen witnesses testified during the trial that began last Monday about what they saw the night of the shooting.

Gahagan graduated from Mojave High School in North Las Vegas in 2005. He was a high school wrestler. His mother, father, stepfather and brother sat in the gallery throughout the trial.

Orellana was arrested Feb. 2, 2009, and has remained in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

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