Thursday, April 23, 1998 | 10:05 a.m.
A federal judge has dismissed Metro Police, Sheriff Jerry Keller and two veteran detectives from some counts in a lawsuit filed by the family of a young man murdered by an off-duty Metro Police officer.
U.S. District Judge Philip Pro on Wednesday ruled that the family of 21-year-old Daniel Mendoza didn't meet some of the legal requirements in a case involving the Dec. 28 drive-by shooting.
Pro earlier had narrowed the scope of the case by ruling that the city of Las Vegas could not be sued and that Keller and Metro weren't liable for punitive damages.
In part of Wednesday's ruling, Pro declared that the family could not pursue allegations that Metro, Keller and Detectives Mike Brady and Brent Becker conspired to cover up portions of the case.
Pro stated that conspiracy allegations in a civil rights action on behalf of a victim cannot be pursued if the alleged conspiracy occurred after the death of the victim.
The judge also decided the family's lawyer didn't provide facts to support the claim that Metro and Keller conspired to conceal facts relating to the death.
Pro's rulings, however, don't prevent the civil case from going forward against the convicted shooter, Ron Mortensen, and former Officer Christopher Brady.
Mortensen was convicted of first-degree murder last summer and sentenced to life in prison without parole, largely on the testimony of Christopher Brady, who was Mortensen's companion the night of the shooting.
Part of the lawsuit targets Brady because the district attorney's office chose not to prosecute him although he was the driver of the truck that pulled up to Mendoza's apartment at 537 McKellar Circle before the fatal shot was fired. Brady voluntarily came forward two days later to report what Mortensen had done.
Mendoza was shot once in the heart as he stood with friends outside the apartment near Paradise Road and Twain Avenue.
Mortensen, who had been celebrating his 31st birthday with Brady and other officers in the hours before the shooting occurred, testified at his trial that Brady was the actual shooter.
archive
