Key witness subject of sexual assault probe

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

Police say there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Christopher Brady on allegations by a 26-year-old woman that he forced her to perform a sex act.

But the attorney for the woman says he and the woman met with Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell on Tuesday to discuss the allegations.

Attorney Andrew Myers said Bell wanted to hear the woman's accusations firsthand.

Brady was the key witness in the trial of his former police partner, Ron Mortensen.

Mortensen was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting death of 21-year-old Daniel Mendoza last Dec. 28.

During the trial, Mortensen and Brady each testified that it was the other who fired the fatal shot as they rode around while off duty, seeking to harass gang members and drug dealers.

Both men resigned from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department following the incident.

Phil Roland, a police spokesman, confirmed the woman came forward shortly after Brady resigned and said Brady assaulted her.

"The case has been closed because there was insufficient evidence to support the accusation," Roland said, adding the department would not release further details on the complaint.

Brady's attorney, Nancy Allf, said the sexual assault complaint against her client is not supported by fact.

"If the (police) department had found any validity to the complaint the department would have pursued it," Allf said.

Myers said the woman told police that at 4 a.m. on Oct. 17, while being transported to jail by Brady after her arrest on a traffic warrant, Brady pulled over his patrol car. The woman claimed Brady then removed her from the patrol car and, while she was handcuffed, forced her to perform oral sex.

Myers said the woman waited until March 13 to report the allegation, and has told police she feared possible retaliation for filing the complaint.