Ex-Las Vegas police officer with overturned murder conviction pleads guilty to lesser charges, allowing release

A former Las Vegas police officer — convicted of murder in 1997 before the ruling was overturned this year — pleaded guilty to lesser charges on Tuesday, allowing for his release from prison.

Ronald Mortensen, who has claimed innocence for decades, admitted to two felony counts: second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He has been incarcerated for nearly 30 years, serving a life-without-parole sentence for the 1996 off-duty, drive-by shooting that killed Daniel Mendoza, 21.

District Judge Jacqueline Bluth said that between the two counts, Mortensen would be sentenced to a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 35 years in prison. According to his attorney, David Westbrook, Mortensen has a time-served credit of about 47½ years.

“The anticipation of all the parties is that this will expire his sentence,” Westbrook said during the hearing. “This is essentially going to be him being released from prison for the first time in 30 years.”

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said, “We believe that in the interests of justice and the interests of right versus wrong, that this plea bargain was the best course of action.”

Prosecutors had the option to try Mortensen again. But if Mortensen were retried, prosecutors did not think he would receive a life-without-parole sentence again, but would instead be handed a sentence that would make him immediately eligible for parole, Wolfson said.

Advocated for Alford plea

On March 31, senior U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson vacated Mortensen’s 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 Brady wanted to conduct a drive-by shooting.

Mortensen and Brady 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 Metropolitan Police Department officer, was not prosecuted by the district attorney’s office and was treated as a witness.

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

During Tuesday’s hearing, Mortensen and his lawyer advocated for an Alford plea, which prosecutors rejected. In an Alford plea, defendants maintain their innocence, only acknowledging that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict them.

When Bluth asked Mortensen if he entered the plea “freely and voluntarily,” he frowned and paused before saying yes.

Wolfson said Mortensen’s plea meant he admitted to being the shooter and made it likely he would be unable to receive wrongful conviction relief.

‘He never gave up’

Westbrook said the conspiracy charge is a legal fiction and Mortensen still takes the position Brady was the shooter.

“Why do people who are placed on the rack confess?” Westbrook asked in a phone interview after court.

He answered his own question: Mortensen was serving his sentence in a restrictive, dangerous place and had to take the deal to regain his freedom. Mortensen “swallowed his pride,” the attorney said.

“I’m glad to see him get out,” said attorney Frank Cremen, who represented Mortensen at his trial decades ago. “He did more time than he should have.”

Cremen said he does not believe Mortensen poses a threat to anyone. He expects that his former client will do well when he is released.

“He certainly has perseverance,” Cremen said. “You can see that. He never gave up.”

William Koot, a retired chief deputy district attorney who prosecuted Mortensen, said he approved of the resentencing. He hopes Mortensen will be able to build a life for himself and his family out of prison.

“It was a sad case,” he said. “From all indications, he was a good man.”

Koot still he believes Mortensen was the shooter and insists, despite Dawson’s decision, that prosecutors did not withhold exculpatory evidence from the defense.

Not everyone was pleased with the plea agreement.

Ed Wagner, a friend and supporter of Mortensen’s, said he could not believe the outcome and was disappointed that Mortensen pleaded guilty “when he didn’t do it.”

He said Mortensen should have fought the case.

The judge who paved the way for Mortensen’s release was more enthusiastic.

“Justice has been served,” Dawson said after he learned of the plea from a reporter.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com. Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.