City of Dallas settles with fired police officer after wrongful arrest
DALLAS - The city of Dallas agreed on a settlement with a former Dallas police officer who was wrongfully arrested for two murders.
Bryan Riser was fired from Dallas PD three years ago after being arrested on two capital murder charges, His attorney says they have now settled with the city.
Toby Shook is one of the attorneys representing the former officer.
"There wasn’t any evidence, any credible evidence that connected him to this crime," Shook said. "I’ve never seen a case like this."
In 2021, Riser was accused of hiring a hitman to kill Albert Douglas and Lisa Saenz in 2017 after one of the men who committed the crimes implicated Riser.
However, an examination hearing exposed mistakes and discrepancies in the police affidavit written by Dallas Police Det. Esteban Montenegro.
One major discrepancy: the detective swore that cell phone records placed Riser at one of the murder scenes. The detective admitted that was an error.
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Fmr. Dallas officer accused of murder out of jail after judge rules no probable cause in case against him
A former Dallas police officer who was accused of plotting two murders has been released from jail after a judge ruled there is no probable cause to proceed with the case.
"Bryan Riser was in jail for five weeks on two capital murder charges," Shook said. "After that three-hour hearing, the judge found there was no probable cause, but he was already fired."
Riser’s attorneys say he has now reached a settlement with the city that gives him three years of back pay. He was also reinstated to the department but resigned.
The settlement happened last month, according to his attorney.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Riser wore a shirt reading, "Checkmate."
Shook points out that Riser’s name will always be connected to the murders because of the internet.
"You’ll always have that stain," he said.
Riser has a pending civil lawsuit against Det. Montenegro, who still works for Dallas PD. Last year, a grand jury chose not to indict him on tampering and perjury charges.
The city of Dallas would not comment on the case, citing the pending litigation.