June 30, 2026

The Murder of Daniel Mendoza - Part 4 - The Trial

The Murder of Daniel Mendoza - Part 4 - The Trial
The Murder of Daniel Mendoza - Part 4 - The Trial
Sins & Survivors: A Las Vegas True Crime Podcast
The Murder of Daniel Mendoza - Part 4 - The Trial
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As the murder trial of Daniel Mendoza heated up, Metro Officers Ron Mortenson and Christopher Brady had fully turned on each other. The defense argued that it wasn't their client who pulled the trigger, but the state's key witness.

Meanwhile, the trial was taking place in the shadow of the LA Riots, a fact that was definitely on the minds of the district attorney. If the trial didn't provide accountability, would the same thing happen in Las Vegas?

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What the State offered the jury in the first part

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of Ron Mortenson's trial was difficult to ignore. The gun

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that killed Daniel Mendoza was registered to Mortenson. All the

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bullets found at the scene came from that gun. No

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shell casings were found inside the truck's cab, and five

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witnesses had described the shooter as the passenger in Brady's truck,

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a man wearing glasses.

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But they had not yet heard from the two officers

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at the center of the case. One would testify for

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the state, one would testify in his own defense, each

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asking the jury to believe that the other man killed

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Daniel Mendoza, and by the end, Las Vegas would be

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waiting for a verdict that carried far more weight than

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one man's fate.

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Hi, and Welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas

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true crime podcast where we focus on missing persons, unsolved cases,

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and on cases involving the number one cause of homicide

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in the Las Vegas area, domestic violence. I'm your host Sean.

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And I'm your co host John.

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Welcome to Part four of our series on the murder

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of Daniel Mendoza. If you haven't yet had a chance

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to listen to the first three episodes in this series,

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we strongly recommend you start with Part one at sinspod

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dot co slash one twenty nine so you can hear

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the full story. Part two is at sinspod dot co

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slash one thirty and Part three is at sinspod dot

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co slash one thirty one. Last week, we covered the

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beginning of Ron Mortenson's trial. The state built its case

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through five eyewitnesses who described the gun coming from the

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passenger side window of Brady's truck, the forensic evidence tying

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the bullets to Mortensen's sig sour, and the evidence that

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the truck was moving as the bullets were fired. We

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discussed the controversy over Christopher Brady, the officer who drove

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the truck but had not been charged. Local Las Vegas

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activist groups were calling Daniel's murder a hate crime and

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were demanding justice.

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We also shared one of the most moving parts of

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the story. When Daniel's father, Ramone Mendoza, and his grandmother

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Maria invited officers over to their home to celebrate Ramone's birthday,

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the family was in pain. It was just two days

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before the start of the trial, yet they were working

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to build community and healing in their neighborhood. We ended

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Part three at one of the most pivotal parts of

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the entire trial, the testimony of Christopher Brady. From the

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start of the investigation, Metro had viewed Brady as the

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key witness and positioned him as the one who came

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forward to help solve the murder case. When Christopher Brady

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took the stand on Monday May fifth, nineteen ninety seven,

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he was no longer a Metro officer. He had resigned

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from the department in January due to intense public scrutiny

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surrounding the case. Courtroom observers and reporters described the intense

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security that surrounded Brady was impossible to catch for a

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statement or an interview before or after he testified. One

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reporter wrote that he seemed to just magically appear in

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the courtroom after successfully eluding the hordes of photographers that

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had assembled to capture a photo of one of the

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city's most infamous witnesses.

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Brady's sworn testimony covered a lot of what we shared

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in Part two of the series. We also want to

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remind everyone that Brady was never charged with anything, and

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it was consistently reported that there was no deal cut

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between Metro, the DA's office, and Brady. Under oath, Brady

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fully admitted that he and Mortenson had spent the night

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of Daniel's murder drinking heavily to celebrate Mortenson's thirty first birthday.

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They left the party and took a detour to a

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second bar, driving recklessly through poor neighborhoods in Brady's custom

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blue nineteen seventy four Dodge pickup truck. Brady told a

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jury they were seeking to harass people they didn't like

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because they thought that they were nasty. This is where

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the description you heard us use of the bangers, the dopers,

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and the screwball people comes from, directly from Brady's mouth.

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He told the jury the two of them frequently encountered

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these kinds of people while working shifts on the force.

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According to Brady, they routinely harassed citizens while off duty.

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They thought they could easily get away with it in

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the late night hours, simply because they were cops. He

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admitted that night that the two of them were acting

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like quote jerks.

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Brady admitted that the two of them were legally drunk

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and that he was the one behind the wheel making

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the decisions about where the two of them were driving,

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but he was very clear that when they approached mckeller's circle,

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it was Mortensen who directed him to approach the apartments.

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According to Brady, once they were near the group outside

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Daniel's apartment, he saw a young man making a slicing

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motion across his neck, which he interpreted to mean either

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get out of here or I have no drugs. He

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swore under oath that he saw Mortenson stick the sig

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sour pistol fully out the passenger window, which prompted him

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to react. Brady explained that he too pulled his gun

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because he believed his partner could be in some kind

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of danger. He said he had his revolver pointed out

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the window, with the gun across from Mortenson's chest, about

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six inches away from Mortenson's head, fully inside the truck,

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but aimed outside. Again. He emphasized that the truck's bench

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seat prevented him from reaching all the way out the window.

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He testified that once he realized there was no threat,

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he dropped the gun and he was looking straight ahead

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when he heard a shot, and then at least four

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more shots as he drove away.

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From the state's perspective, this testimony summarized all prior testimony

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and evidence presented so far. It put the gun that

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killed Daniel in Mortenson's hand and explained why Brady had

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drawn his own gun without making him the shooter. But

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from the defense's perspective, Brady's testimony gave them multiple opportunities

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to poke holes in his story. One clear inconsistency the

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defense locked in on was the way Brady described one

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of the most important physical details in the case. Brady

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had previously told police and the grand jury that he

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stuck his gun out the window, but at trial he

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clarified that he did not mean his arm or his

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weapon actually went outside the passenger window. It was just

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pointed in that direction. As we have mentioned earlier, Brady

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backed up his story by focusing heavily on the custom

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bench seat of his truck, which featured a large center console.

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He testified that the console was flipped down in the

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armrest position that night. Because it was down, Brady claimed

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it was simply impossible for him to stretch his torso

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entirely across a passenger to fire six shots outside the

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window frame while keeping his foot on the gas. However,

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none of the other eyewitnesses testified to seeing a second gun.

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The defense posed the question that if Brady was also

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pointing his gun at the crowd, why had no one

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else seen that? So, the defense was arguing two things.

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Number one, Brady was changing his story to make Mortonson

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more culpable, or maybe because he just realized things weren't

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like up. But also two, maybe the witnesses didn't see

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everything as well as they thought they did.

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The defense was relentless in its cross examination of Brady.

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Mortenson's attorney, Frank Krimin, brought up what he viewed as

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a highly suspicious detail about the exact route Brady chose

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to drive Mortenson home from the pets in Spring Valley.

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Instead of getting directly onto the I fifteen South at

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Flamingo and taking it to Blue Diamond Road, which would

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only be a fifteen minute drive to Mortenson's house, Brady

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took a long detour. He drove down Twain Avenue toward Eastern,

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a route that went through roughly thirty stoplights and took

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nearly twenty five minutes. Kremon pointed out that this specific

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route directly intersected with Paula Verda Street, a road that

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led straight back to the crime scene on McKellar Circle.

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Cremon said, you thought maybe something had gone wrong, and

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you wanted to look to see if there were police

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wagons there. Brady flatly denied that accusation, claiming that he

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chose the lengthy route home entirely arbitrarily. We covered the

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truck evidence in Part three, so we won't rehash all

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of that here, but in front of the jury, Kremen

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also used those changes to attack Brady's credibility. Brady admitted

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that after the shooting, the truck had been changed. The

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custom seat was removed and sold, it was repainted, and

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the window tint was taken off. Brady said he made

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those changes because he was afraid that the truck would

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be recognizable to the friends of Daniel Mendoza or members

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of the Eighteenth Street Gang, and that he feared retaliation.

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The defense used those changes to posit to the jury

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that they were actually an attempt to alter or destroy evidence.

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The defense wanted to question him about prior internal affairs complaints,

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including allegations involving his conduct in earlier encounters, including claims

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that he had pulled a gun on a motorist, and

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that there were complaints about aggressive or improper policing. Judge

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Pawlakowski limited what the defense could bring in the jury

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did not get the full picture of every allegation and

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concern that would later surround Chris Brady. We're going to

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pause here for a short break, but when we come back,

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we're switching gears to talk about the pivotal moment when

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Ron Mortensen took the stand in his own defense.

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Martinson and his attorneys took a major risk in order

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to have Mortenson tell the jury in his own words

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what he claimed had happened that night. Mortenson did not

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deny being drunk or that his gun was the weapon

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that fired the fatal shots, and said he told the

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jury that Brady had taken his gun and used it.

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According to Mortenson, the night began to shift before they

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ever reached mckeller's circle. He testified that he felt sick

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from drinking and wanted to go home. He said he

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told Brady he was not feeling well and he wanted

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to call it a knight, but according to Mortenson, Brady

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did not want the night to end. Mortenson said Brady

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told him they weren't going home yet and that they

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were going out to another bar, but first he wanted

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to trip something out. Mortenson testified that Brady drove erratically,

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cutting through neighborhoods, speeding through alley and looking between the

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buildings until they arrived at mckeller's Circle and saw Daniel

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and his friends. Mortenson's version was that he immediately understood

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this was stupid and wanted it to stop. He testified

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that he told Brady, come on, Chris, let's go. This

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is stupid, and then, according to Mortenson, Brady said look out.

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Mortenson claimed Brady came across the seat, elbowed him in

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the chest, and put his arm out of the passenger

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window and fired. In Mortenson's version, Brady fired one shot, laughed,

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fired more shots, and said you better run. Mortenson claimed

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he tried to stop him, but Brady told him to

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let go. Then Brady slid back fully into the driver's

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seat and drove away. He said he asked Brady why

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he had shot at the group, and, according to Mortenson,

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Brady said, the son of a bitch had a gun

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and you just sat there. Mortensen told Brady he had

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not seen a gun. According to Mortenson, Brady then said

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he had shot into the air and he was just

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trying to scare them. Mortenson claimed that's when he realized

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that Brad had his sig sour between his legs. When

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he asked why Brady had used his gun, Mortenson said

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Brady told him he couldn't get to his own gun.

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Morton testified that when he asked Brady why he had

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done it, Brady told him I told you I was

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an evil man. I am evil. The jury had to

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decide whether they believed Brady would say something like that,

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or whether Mortenson had invented the line to make Brady

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sound monstrous. Later, another person would say Brady used very

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similar language in a very different context. We're holding off

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getting into the details of all of that for now.

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There was one more loose thread that surfaced during the trial,

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though at the time the jury never heard the details.

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Kremin told the court that he had received an anonymous call,

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claiming that Brady had previously talked to another Metro officer,

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Mark Barry, about wanting to do a drive by shooting.

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The state responded that an investigator had spoken to Barry

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and that Barry had dismissed that claim as non sense. Sense.

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That kind of testimony feels pretty material to the matter

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at hand, but that was the judge's ruling. But like

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so many of the unresolved questions around Christopher Brady, that

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allegation would not stay under wraps forever. Years later, that

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allegation would come back in a much more serious way.

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Mortenson testified that after the shooting, Brady tried to make

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what had happened just sound like something small, something that

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would be simply written off as a four to three

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four call, which was the Metro Police code for an

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illegal discharge of a firearm. According to Mortenson, Brady told

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him not to worry about it, to him back natural,

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and then once they arrived at the bar, Mortenson said

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he was scared, sick, and visibly shaken by what he

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claimed he had just witnessed. The State had a very

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different view of that testimony. To prosecutors, Mortenson was not

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a frightened bystander trapped in Brady's truck. He was a

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defendant trying to save himself, and his version required the

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jury to believe something the state argued was physically unlikely

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that Brady, a smaller man, could lean across the cab,

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across Mortenson's body, fire out the passenger window while driving,

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and somehow do all of this in a way that

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made the people outside the truck believe that it was

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the passenger who was the shooter. Prosecutors also tried to

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attack Mortenson's credibility in other ways. William Coot wanted the

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jury to hear about an earlier incident involving Mortenson's employment

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at Dillard's, where he had allegedly been suspected of theft

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and accused of lying on an application. The defense objected,

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arguing that the Dillard's evidence was unfair and prejudicial, and

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Judge Pablkowski ultimately ruled that the jury would not hear it.

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Both sides were trying to bring in evidence that, as

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it turned out, the jury would never hear, but it

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later became part of the detailed records around this case.

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The defense wanted to expose Brady's past, while the prosecution

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wanted to attack Mortenson's character. The judge limited both sides,

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and the jury was left with what came into court.

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Two former officers, two competing accounts, eyewitnesses from the neighborhood,

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physical evidence from the scene, and the truck That was critical.

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As we noted last week, the truck was not just

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described to the jury through testimony or diagrams. The jurors

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had the opportunity to examine it for themselves. After the

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custom seat had been located and reinstalled, the jurors could

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draw their own conclusions whether Christopher Brady could have reached

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from the driver's side and fired a gun out the

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passenger window. That experience had to really solidify the testimony

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for the jurors. It's one thing to hear lawyers argue

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about the console, the bench seat, the window and the

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angle of the gun. It's a whole other thing to

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be able to see it all with your own eyes.

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Could Brady have reached across Mortensen, Could he have fired

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out the passenger window? Could he have done all that

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00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.679
while also controlling the truck, And could witnesses outside have

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mistaken Brady's arm, Brady's gun, or Brady's movement for Mortensen's

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The state argued that the answer was no. Prosecutors emphasized

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the ballistics testimony showing that the truck was moving while

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the shots were fired, and that the gun had to

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00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.840
be outside the window because otherwise the shellcasings would likely

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have landed inside the vehicle. In closing, prosecutor Gary Geyman

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00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.919
turned that defense theory into one pointed question, is there

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something magic about Chris Brady's arm? That question summed up

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00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.159
the state's argument in a single line. Prosecutors were asking

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00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:25.879
the jury to reject Mortenson's version as too complicated, too convenient,

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00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:29.879
and too physically improbable. The state argued that the simpler

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explanation was the one supported by the eyewitness and gun evidence.

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Mortenson was the passenger, Mortenson's gun fired the shots, and

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Mortensen killed Daniel Mendoza.

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However, the defense argued that the state's version was simple

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only because Metro had made it simple. Kremen told jurors

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00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.799
that the investigation accepted Brady's statement at face value because

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00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:54.919
Brady was the son of a veteran Metro detective and

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the police had ignored or dismissed facts that did not

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00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.279
fit the story. They wanted to believe. He pointed to

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00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.000
Brady's changing language about whether he stuck his gun out

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the window or merely pointed it across Mortensen's chest. He

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pointed to the eye witnesses who never saw a second gun.

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He told jurors that eye witnessed descriptions were imperfect, highlighting

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two witnesses who said the shooter wore a blue shirt

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as Brady did that night. He also pointed to the

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route Brady took after the shooting, a trip to the

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ATM that Brady did not originally mention, the altered truck,

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the missing custom seat, and the fact that Brady's clothing

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00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.200
had been washed before the defense had a meaningful chance

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00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:36.559
to examine it for gunpowder, residue, or any other evidence.

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Each point was part of the same larger argument. Christopher

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00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.279
Brady was not just a witness and definitely not a

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good samaritan who came forward to do the right thing.

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In the defense's view, he was the person that Metro's

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00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:54.000
investigators had chosen not to question hard enough. Kremon told

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jurors that Christopher Brady did not tell the police the truth,

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and he was not telling them the truth now either,

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and because of that, he argued they had no choice

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but to acquit Ron Mortenson.

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In the prosecution's closing argument, they asked the jury to

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00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.880
convict Ron Mortenson, a former police officer, a first degree

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00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.279
murder for firing into a group of young people while

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00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.279
off duty, and da Geiman acknowledged that there was something

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00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.519
uncomfortable about that. He told jurors that people did not

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00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:26.640
want to believe that a college graduate, a husband, and

319
00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:29.680
a father could do such terrible things. They did not

320
00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.200
want to believe law enforcement could engage in this kind

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00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:37.119
of conduct, But he said, stranger things have happened. He

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00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:39.079
said that the defense wanted the case to be about

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00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.680
Christopher Brady, but insisted it was not. Geiman told jers

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00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:46.480
this was not a case of Christopher Brady versus Ron Mortenson.

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00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.359
It was a murder case, and he said the eyewitnesses

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00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.559
who described Mortenson as the passenger and the shooter were

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00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.559
the real key. During closing arguments, Gayman also showed the

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00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.160
jury photographs of Daniel Mendoz's body and called the shoeing

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00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.720
a cold blooded thrill kill, succinctly summing up how the

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00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.839
state wanted jurors to understand the shooting as a deadly

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00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.559
act of cruelty carried out during a night that had

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00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.480
nothing to do with Daniel until Brady and Mortensen drove

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00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:19.079
into his neighborhood, and then the case went to the jury. However,

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00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:22.400
the photos Gaiman show did not stay inside the courtroom.

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00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:25.200
The next day, the Review Journal published a front page

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00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.319
photograph of Da Gyman holding up the autopsy photos during

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00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.160
closing arguments. Newspaper did not publish the autopsy photos in

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00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:35.039
full detail, but it had published the courtroom moment of

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00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:38.319
the Da facing the camera holding up a photo in

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00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.799
each hand, and the images were clear enough that the

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00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:44.279
readers understood what they were seeing. The reaction was immediate

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00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:48.000
and intense. Some readers said that the image was unnecessary, disturbing,

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00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.880
and cruel to Daniel's family, and that his death did

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00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:53.440
not need to be showcased on the front page the newspaper.

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Daniel had already been reduced through labels, through assumptions, through stereotypes,

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00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.759
and through the questions of his gang ties, and sharing

347
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:03.720
the photos had further robbed him of his humanity.

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00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.799
Some readers defended the newspaper's decision, arguing that the image

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00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.480
forced the community to confront what actually happened. One letter

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00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.599
writer said the photo made Daniel feel real, not just

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00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.079
like another young man written off in the news, and

352
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.920
that seeing his face and understanding that his future had

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00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:24.359
been cut short made the violence harder to ignore. The

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00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.400
Review Journal's editor himself acknowledged that some readers found the

355
00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:29.880
photo tasteless and that a few were angry enough to

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00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:33.200
cancel their subscriptions, but he defended the decision by saying

357
00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.119
the photo captured the essence of the story. In his view,

358
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.039
the image showed the reality of a murder trial, ugly, stark,

359
00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:45.160
and real. As the jury began deliberating, the case moved

360
00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.720
into a different kind of tension. Outside the courthouse, Metro

361
00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.079
was quietly preparing for the possibility that the verdict could

362
00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:56.480
hit the city hard. The concern was not theoretical. This

363
00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.680
case touched some of the deepest anxieties in Las Vegas,

364
00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:04.759
race policing, gangs, accountability, and the fear that officers could

365
00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:08.960
get away with murder. Mortensen was on trial, but Brady

366
00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:13.519
had driven the truck and was never charged. Community activists

367
00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.799
had been demanding answers for months, and the city still

368
00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.680
remembered the unrest that followed the Rodney King verdict just

369
00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.039
a few years earlier. Police were careful in how they

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00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:27.000
talked about their preparations. A police spokesperson said that Metro

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00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:29.799
was prepared but not panicked. He said they felt very

372
00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:31.960
confident the community would do the right thing when the

373
00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.240
verdict came in. But he also made it clear that

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00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:37.720
the department was ready. We are prepared, he said. We

375
00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:40.480
have a commitment to making sure the community is safe.

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00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.839
There were reports that Judge Pablokowski had promised to delay

377
00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:46.359
reading the verdict for up to four hours to give

378
00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:50.519
the police time to plan and prepare. Metro denied those reports,

379
00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:52.920
but they also acknowledged that whatever security plan was in

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00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.160
place could be implemented almost immediately. There was a clear

381
00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:00.160
sense that everyone understood how much the verdict meant and

382
00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:05.559
how closely the community was watching. On Wednesday, May fourteenth,

383
00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:08.599
nineteen ninety seven, after deliberating for just a little more

384
00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:12.079
than a day, the jury reached its verdict. We're going

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00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.039
to pause here for a short break, but we'll be

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00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.440
right back to bring you the conclusion of Part four.

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00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.519
Ron Mortensen was found guilty of first degree murder with

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00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.519
the use of a deadly weapon. He was immediately placed

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00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:28.960
into custody to await sentencing, which would begin in Judge

390
00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:33.240
Joseph Pavlkowski's courtroom the very next day.

391
00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.279
The verdict ended the trial, but it could never end

392
00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:39.720
the pain. Daniel's father, Ramone, was present, as he had

393
00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.400
been throughout the trial, and after the verdict was read,

394
00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:45.279
he said that whatever the sentence Morton sid would eventually

395
00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:49.519
serve seemed almost beside the point. No prison term could

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00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:52.640
give him back his son, and Ramone told reporters that

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00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.039
whatever time Mortenson served will not help his grieving family.

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00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.599
Then he said something that stays with me. Standing outside

399
00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:02.039
the court house after the verdict, Ramone said, I don't

400
00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:05.559
for the rest of my life want to come here anymore.

401
00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:09.319
For the court system, the verdict is the conclusion of

402
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:12.720
the legal process, But for the family, it's just another

403
00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.839
day in the same loss. The jury can answer one question,

404
00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:18.640
it can say who the law holds responsible, but it

405
00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:21.519
can never undo the reason everyone was in that courtroom

406
00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:24.559
in the first place. Ramone also had a message for

407
00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:28.440
the community that had supported his family. Ramone also had

408
00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:30.759
a message for the community that had supported his family.

409
00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:33.680
He thanked people for standing with them, and he said

410
00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.559
that people needed to learn to live in peace and

411
00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:38.400
love and not in the kind of violence that had

412
00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:40.640
sent that had ended his son's life.

413
00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:45.759
Outside the courthouse, the reaction was quiet on McKellar's circle.

414
00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.839
There was no violence, no riots, but also no celebrations

415
00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:54.599
or cries of victory. Columnist John Elsmith wrote that everything

416
00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:57.960
was quiet for now, but lingering questions about Brady cried out.

417
00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:01.319
He described Brady as the ultimate enigma in the case,

418
00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:04.519
the officer who drove the getaway vehicle, the officer who

419
00:23:04.519 --> 00:23:06.960
brought the murder weapon to police after it had been

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00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.240
under his control for nearly two days, and the officer

421
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:15.720
whose brief career had raised troubling questions. One editorial praised

422
00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.640
police and prosecutors for moving quickly and without favoritism, arguing

423
00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:22.240
that Mortensen had been treated like a common citizen, which

424
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.920
is exactly how it should be. Some residents in predominantly

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00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.000
Hispanic neighborhoods said the verdict was only part of the answer.

426
00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.119
They were relieved that Mortenson had been convicted, but many

427
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.480
still questioned why Christopher Brady had never been charged. One

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00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.240
resident asked what would have happened if two Hispanic people

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00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:42.440
had been in the truck, one had shot and the

430
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:44.960
other had driven away. Would they both have gone to jail?

431
00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:49.200
Those questions had existed since January, and they were still

432
00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.279
there after the verdict.

433
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Even as the verdict came down, reporters were already looking

434
00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.359
more closely at Christopher Brady's background. Right alongside the headlines

435
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:02.000
declaring Mortensen guilty, the Review Journal was already digging into

436
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.279
Brady's background, his credibility, and the complaints that have followed

437
00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:08.359
him during his time with Metro. Those questions continued to

438
00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:12.880
grow after the verdict was announced. Next week, we turned

439
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:16.039
to Brady, the driver of the truck, the state's central witness,

440
00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:19.079
and the former officer whose role in Daniel Mendoz's murder

441
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.519
remained one of the most contested parts of the case.

442
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:25.039
If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave a review on

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Till next week. Thank you for listening, and remember what

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00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:40.319
happens here happens everywhere.

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00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:02.000
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You can contact us at Questions at Sinsonsurvivors dot com.

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If you are someone you know as affected by domestic

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00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:26.920
violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources

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or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources

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00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:33.160
is available on our website, Sins and Survivors dot com.

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Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research,

459
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.039
written and produced by your hosts Sean and John. The

460
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:42.519
information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time

461
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of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please

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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely

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individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not

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constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal

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professionals for guidance