Justice served: Prisoner’s conviction set aside

Bill Gang

Friday, Oct. 2, 1998 | 11:23 a.m.

Reginald Hayes was only 14 years old when he accepted a ride home from three other men in 1985.

The trip, according to prosecutors, degenerated into a gunfire-filled rampage that left a Nellis Air Force Base airman dead and four others with bullet wounds.

Hayes said he was innocent, he wasn't involved, he was just catching a ride and didn't know what was planned. Testimony at his trial a year later supported that position, but a jury convicted him of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder.

At age 15, he went to prison to serve a life sentence.

Since then, Hayes' advocates have remained steadfast, and now he is on the verge of being released. His convictions were set aside Thursday in a unusual resolution that will make him immediately eligible for parole.

The deal was prompted in part because of the decision last year by the Clark County district attorney's office not to prosecute former Metro Police Officer Christopher Brady, who was involved in the shooting death of Daniel Mendoza. Brady's friend, former Metro Officer Ron Mortensen, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Brady came forward to solve that murder by implicating Mortensen. Hayes, in essence, had done the same thing -- waiting by the body of 21-year-old John H. Brown until police arrived and then telling what he knew.

But prosecutors at the time weren't willing to let Hayes simply walk away a free man because he was identified as a passenger in the car during more than one event in the shooting spree, according to court testimony.

To clear his path to freedom, Hayes was required to plead guilty Thursday to a kidnapping charge, which carries a life prison sentence but permits parole after serving five years. Hayes has served more than three times that long, counting "good time" credits.

His release date, however, will be dictated by the state parole board. It could be a matter of days, months or years depending on how the board views the case.

Hayes' guilty plea was under a legal provision that does not require him to admit actual responsibility for the crime, but to concede only that there was evidence of such a crime.

While Hayes was convicted by a jury of murder at his 1985 trial, a conviction upheld by appellate courts, Chief Assistant Federal Public Defender John Lambrose said Thursday's deal was warranted because of the facts that have come out.

"There is no mystery that some wrongs have been corrected," Lambrose explained to District Judge Kathy Hardcastle.

He noted the deal was brokered with the approval of District Attorney Stewart Bell.

"I feel great at this point," said Hayes' mother, Helen Jones. "I had wished someone would open their eyes and see the truth and do the right thing, (although) the truth hurts a lot of people."

She said an adult friend had instructed Hayes to get into the car with the other teens for a ride home, and he obeyed.

"But he never came home, and nobody wanted to listen to the truth," she said.

While the new deal could result in a quick release for Hayes, it didn't satisfy everyone.

Elgin Simpson, who headed the Nevada Supreme Court's task force on racial and economic bias, said Hayes shouldn't have been required to plead guilty to the kidnapping charge as part of the resolution of the case.

"When you look at the facts, he didn't do anything," Simpson said. "This was a case where a white airman was (alleged to have been) killed by four blacks."

Simpson marveled that despite spending half of his life in prison, Hayes "is not a bitter or mean person, he educated himself and counseled other prisoners."

Formal sentencing is set for Nov. 19.