Brady pleads guilty in drive-by

Kim Smith And Bill Gang

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 11:23 a.m.

Former Metro Police officer Christopher Brady pleaded guilty this morning in the 1996 death of Daniel Mendoza -- a death for which his former partner, Ron Mortensen, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Brady pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to a civil rights violation -- one count of conspiracy to violate the fair housing and equal property rights of Hispanic residents of Las Vegas.

As part of the plea agreement, he agreed to serve nine years in a federal prison and pay up to a $250,000 fine. He would not be eligible for parole. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 22.

The plea agreement was sealed Wednesday afternoon after a two-year investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office that concluded that Mortensen, 32, pulled the trigger in the Dec. 28, 1996, drive-by shooting that killed Mendoza.

Mortensen appealed his 1997 murder conviction, saying Brady had fired the gun. However, witnesses at the scene on Twain Avenue and Paradise Road testified that the passenger of a pickup fired the fatal bullets. Brady had been driving.

The Nevada Supreme Court has not ruled on the appeal.

The drive-by shooting occurred during a celebration of Mortensen's 30th birthday.

During its investigation the FBI found that Brady had told a fellow Metro officer during the evening that it was his night for "a marauding mission."

Individual officers cooperated fully with the FBI investigation, Sheriff Jerry Keller said, and he called those officers who helped examples of what is typical in Metro.

Keller said Brady's plea is a culmination of two years' worth of "anguish, anger and soul-searching."

The shooting, which rocked the department "to the soles of their shoes," Keller said, prompted Metro to do an in-depth review of its hiring procedures and training practices. An early warning system has been developed within Metro's Internal Affairs division to spot officers who may have intolerant views. Metro has also developed closer working relationships with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office, Keller said.

Keller called Brady and Mortensen "abhorrent examples of Las Vegas Metro employees." He said they are two officers out of 3,600 employees in the Metro Police Department, and he called the shooting "an isolated incident."

U.S. Attorney Katheryn Landreth said the plea agreement "sets a cornerstone for fighting intolerance and bigotry in the valley" and shows that attacks like Brady's "have no place in our state."

Mortensen's attorney, Frank Cremen, when told by a reporter of the plea bargain, conceded it likely would not affect Mortensen's appeal of his murder conviction.

"I don't think it will have any effect on any legal issues we've raised, but it could have an effect on the way people think about the case," Cremen said.

Deputy District Attorney Bill Koot agreed that Brady's plea to federal civil rights charges will not have any effect on the state's conviction of Mortensen.

"It was always our contention we had two rogue cops who were harassing the citizens," Koot said. "The only question was who pulled the trigger and did the other one know shots were going to be fired."

While eyewitnesses identified Mortensen as the gunman, he testified it was Brady who leaned across the truck from the driver's seat and fired Mortensen's gun out of the passenger window.

Brady supported the eyewitnesses by testifying that Mortensen was the killer and the jury believed him, convicting Mortensen of first-degree murder and sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Koot said that while it was determined Brady's role did not constitute a state crime, he believes Brady's actions -- which he admitted to a Clark County grand jury and his testimony under oath at Mortensen's trial -- may have constituted a federal civil rights violation.

"He hung himself when he testified," Koot, who heads the District Attorney's Major Violators Unit, said.

He said that since all Brady did was acknowledge what he admitted in front of a jury there will be no effect on the state case.

"I don't see where the federal case should have an impact on our case," Koot said.