A former Dallas officer who had been arrested last month on suspicion of plotting two murders is free after a judge dropped the charges against him.
Dallas County Judge Audrey Moorehead said after Bryan Riser spent weeks in jail, there was still no sufficient evidence to keep him in custody.
“We have an obligation – under the United States Constitution, under the Texas Constitution, under the Code of Criminal Procedure, under our duty as prosecutors – to see that justice is done,” prosecutor Jason Fine said.
“If we get to a point, in any case, no matter who defendant is, no matter who the witnesses are, that we feel there is insufficient probable cause, we have to alert the defense and alert the court. And we have to do something. We can’t just sit by.”
Back in March, Dallas Police Chief Edgardo Garcia said that 40-year-old Riser allegedly paid his longtime friend cash to murder Albert Douglas, 61, and Liza Saenz, 31, back in 2017.
It was one of three perpetrators who implicated Riser. Douglas’s body was never recovered while Saenz’s remains were pulled from a local river.
“Obviously, he is very grateful that the charges were discharged,” Riser’s attorney Toby Shook said. “He was fired, and his reputation was ruined, so he needs to start taking steps to rebuild his life.”
