Brady

Defendants Franklin Neal Brady and Richard Carkeek Mortensen were accused of causing the deaths of two firefighter pilots who collided when responding to a fire that broke out near defendants’ methamphetamine laboratory in a wooded area of Mendocino County. They were tried jointly on various charges, including murder, manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine with special allegations that their illegal acts caused two deaths, and recklessly causing a fire that resulted in the death of the firefighters.

Mortensen was convicted only of manufacturing and conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine. He appeals on the grounds that there is no substantial evidence to support the conviction and that the court improperly admitted evidence of a prior conviction for manufacturing methamphetamine. Brady was convicted of recklessly starting a fire that caused the deaths of the pilots and of manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. His primary contention on appeal is that the jury instructions and the exclusion of four categories of evidence precluded the jury from properly determining whether his conduct proximately caused the death of the pilots.…