Plea deal possible for former Las Vegas officer with vacated murder conviction

A former Las Vegas police officer whose 1997 murder conviction was overturned by a federal judge may be working out a plea deal, attorneys indicated at a Tuesday hearing.

Ronald Mortensen had spent decades serving a life without parole sentence for the 1996 off-duty, drive-by shooting of Daniel Mendoza, 21.

Then, on March 31, senior U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson vacated the conviction, based on problems with jury instructions and what he viewed as the prosecution’s suppression of evidence that Christopher Brady, an officer who accompanied Mortensen at the time of the shooting, may have told another officer that he, Brady, wanted to conduct a drive-by shooting.

Mortensen, who remains in state prison, appeared before District Judge Jacqueline Bluth for a short hearing.

Attorney Tony Farmani, who represented Mortensen in his federal case, said he had spoken with Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo about the case.

“We have come to an agreement,” he said. “I’d like to be able to see this come through.”

Assistant District Attorney Pamela Weckerly said her understanding was that “a tentative agreement” had been made.

Bluth asked if she meant there might be a negotiation and Weckerly confirmed it.

Farmani did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. District Attorney Steve Wolfson declined to discuss the specifics of potential plea terms.

If plea negotiations do not work out, Mortensen could face a second trial.

The shooting occurred after he and Brady celebrated his birthday in December 1996.

They drank heavily, then drove to McKellar Circle, located in a Hispanic neighborhood near Paradise and Flamingo roads.

There, Brady alleged, Mortensen fired a gun from the truck Brady drove and in which Mortensen was a passenger. Mortensen said Brady was the shooter.

Unlike Mortensen, Brady, whose father was a longtime Metro officer, was not prosecuted by the district attorney’s office and was treated as a witness.

Brady admitted to violating the civil rights of Hispanic people in a federal case and was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1999.

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Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.