Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal A judge Friday determined Mark David Fiddler will be tried on charges of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon in relation to the shooting of an deputy Feb. 1.
Based on testimony from law enforcement officials, including the Carson City deputy shot earlier this month, a judge determined there was enough evidence to try Mark David Fiddler, 51, on charges of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon.
With his injured left hand wrapped in a large cast to conceal the pins holding his wrist together, deputy Josh Stagliano told the court the story of first spotting Fiddler standing in a darkened bedroom on Feb. 1.
He said he was the first officer into the house 40 seconds after officers first pounded on the door at 1515 Fall Street, shouted more than once, "Sheriff's department, search warrant," and then broke a hole into the door with a battering ram.
Stagliano said he went down a lit hallway to secure a rear bedroom where officers believed there would be a half-pound of methamphetamine.
"I came around the doorway and I was doing a scan of the room," Stagliano said, demonstrating how he looked left then right while holding an MP5 submachine gun. "When I came back to the right, I saw a subject there, pointing a rifle at me. I saw a flash from the end of the rifle and my left arm when completely numb. I knew I had been shot."
The recollection of the night appeared uncomfortable for the deputy, and Stagliano asked for a moment before questioning continued.
Studio City, Calif., defense attorney Angelyn Gates, who suggested in her closing argument that Fiddler was acting in self-defense, asked Stagliano why he didn't shoot Fiddler first if he saw him pointing a gun at him.
"He shot before I could shoot," Stagliano said.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Gerald Gardner put four witnesses on the stand for the prosecution. Among them was Detective Paul Haless of the Major Crimes Unit of the Department of Public Safety.
Haless said he interviewed Fiddler three hours after the shooting at the jail, and Fiddler told him he was sleeping when officers entered his home.
"He said he was awakened by World War Three. He heard a lot of crashing and banging and immediately reacted and grabbed his rifle," Haless said.
Haless said Fiddler told him, "he had fired that weapon at a silhouette in his doorway with a flashlight."
Gates asked Hales what Fiddler said when he found he'd shot a deputy.
"He said if he had known it was a police officer, he wouldn't have fired," Hales said.
Gates also asked Haless if Fiddler said he tried to determine what the noise was from by calling for his roommate.
"He said after the banging he had hollered, 'Lillian!' and their wasn't any response," said Hales.
"And did he also indicate to you that he thought that Lillian might be in danger?" Gates asked.
"Yes," Hales said.
Officers of the Special Enforcement Team were issued a search warrant for Fiddler's home after his roommate Lillian Meyer, 42, allegedly sold an informant $60 worth of methamphetamine. SET investigators said they decided to serve the search warrant at 2:55 a.m., 20 minutes after a truck pulled up to the home, because they suspected the truck was delivering a shipment of methamphetamine. Sgt. Darrin Sloan said Fiddler was driving the truck.
No drugs were found in the home after state investigators completed a search in relation to the shooting.
Meyers is charged in connection with the sale to the informant.
Fiddler will be arraigned in district court on March 5.
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.