‘Justice has been served’ in murder case

Cathy Scott

Thursday, May 15, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The first-degree murder conviction of former Metro Police Officer Ron Mortensen in the drive-by shooting of a Hispanic man marks a positive end to a negative case for Metro, officials said.

It also marks the chance to move forward for Las Vegas' Hispanic community.

Mortensen, 31, was a passenger in a truck driven by former Officer Christopher Brady, 25, on Dec. 28 when the shooting occurred. Mortensen fired six rounds, one striking 21-year-old Daniel Mendoza in the heart. Mendoza died at the scene on McKellar Circle, near Twain Avenue and Paradise Road. Brady, who came forward 36 hours after the shooting, was never charged.

A District Court jury deliberated for 11 hours over three days before deciding Wednesday morning that Mortensen gunned down Mendoza. The penalty phase was to begin today.

"No one is above the law," Sheriff Jerry Keller said Wednesday at a news conference called by members of the Latin Chamber of Commerce and community activists following the jury's verdict. "Now is the time to put this issue in perspective and move on. This has been on everyone's mind. No one expected that a member of our force would have been involved in something like this."

David Diego, chairman of Metro's advisory committee for the Hispanic community, said "we feel that justice has been served."

"A life has been lost and two lives have been ruined," Diego said. "To say that we're happy to have a (guilty) verdict, we are not happy. It's a tragedy that's going to haunt many people in this case for years to come. Two off-duty police officers felt empowered to drive down a street and harass some Hispanic community members. What if that shooting had occurred in Summerlin? We hope the message the jury sent out was that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated in Las Vegas."

As for the controversy over Brady not being charged, Diego said: "Mr. Brady has lost his career. He has suffered the loss of his reputation. I question his motives that night, but I think he'll pay for the rest of his life for his actions that night."

For two Metro patrol officers, who requested anonymity, the verdict was only half of what they feel should have happened.

"We're disgusted," a female officer said. "It was the ultimate crime -- death -- and two officers, not one, were involved. Chris Brady has resigned. He can go to any other department and get hired as a police officer."

The officer's partner added: "We're not totally satisfied with the verdict. Brady was involved. They both should have gotten charged. If my partner and I had done something like that, we both would have gone down."

The Rev. James Rogers, president of the Las Vegas branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who was in the courtroom Wednesday for the verdict, agreed. "We're still focusing on Chris Brady," he said. "We won't let that die."