‘He feels vindicated,' Bryan Riser's attorney on settlement with the city of Dallas

Three years after his dramatic release from county jail, former Dallas Police Officer Bryan Riser once again feels vindicated.

Riser has been embroiled in a years-long battle for his good name and freedom after being accused and charged with two murders.

“He’s very, very happy now much happier, he feels vindicated,” said Riser’s attorney, Dallas criminal defense attorney Toby Shook.

Police arrested Riser in 2021 charging him with two counts of capital murder, after allegedly hiring hitmen to murder Albert Douglas, 61, and Liza Saenz, 31, who were killed weeks apart in 2017.

A witness came forward in August 2019 implicating Riser in the cases, leading DPD to investigate one of their own.

Riser spent five weeks in jail in 2021 before a contentious hearing where DPD’s evidence and a detective’s actions were called into question.

The hearing ended with prosecutors and the judge agreeing there was not enough evidence to proceed. Charges were dropped and Riser was set free.

And now, just last month, in a separate hearing before an administrative judge set to consider Riser’s appeal over his firing. Another win.

“At the end of that hearing, the judge on the grounds for firing over the two capital murder arrests, found in favor of Bryan Riser,” said Shook. “In other words, there wasn’t evidence of that. And once that happened, the city wanted to settle rather than continuing the hearing.”

The offer came as a surprise to Shook who was nevertheless confident the judge would have eventually ruled in their favor, restoring Riser to his position within the police force as he had wanted.

The city of Dallas offered to settle the case, on one condition.

“He was able to get his back-time for the past three years and was reinstated, and then part of the agreement was that he would then resign,” said Shook.

Riser followed through with the agreement and quit the force, Shook confirmed.

Asked how much money Riser received in backpay, Shook said he did not immediately know the figure.

A spokesperson for the city of Dallas said in a statement, "The City of Dallas does not comment on personnel matters."

This week, Riser posted a photograph on his public Facebook page wearing a T-shirt with the words: 'Checkmate.'

Riser’s Criminal Defense attorney Toby Shook says money can’t fix what’s been done.

“The negative publicity has ruined his reputation. You Google his name, you see capital murder arrest,” he said. “The damage is done. That’s why he’s still pursuing a civil case.”

Shook is not representing Riser in the federal civil lawsuit.

That’s not all.

DPD confirms the 2017 homicide cases are ‘still ongoing.’

“Yeah, it's still is an open case. They’ll say Bryan Riser is a suspect. I state with confidence: he’ll never be arrested because there is no evidence,” said Shook. “Bryan Riser had nothing to do with either of those murders, in no way did he contract to have these people killed. He’s completely innocent of those two accusations.”

Chief Eddie Garcia, who had just arrived in Dallas, fired Riser, despite his predecessor Chief Renee Hall who said there wasn’t enough evidence at the time to place Riser on administrative leave.

“He is a great police chief, everyone likes him, and I think in this case, he was just given the wrong information,” said Shook. “He depended on the detectives to give him the correct information.”

Shook says this headline-grabbing case should serve as a lesson.

“I think it just shows how important, when you’re going to arrest anyone, but especially a police officer on a sensational crime such as this, don’t rush or at least double-check the accuracy of the affidavit and be real honest on the evidence,” he said.

Shook’s downtown Dallas office is plastered with news clippings from some of the city’s most high-profile trials, including Riser’s 2021 exoneration.

“Been doing this for years and think you’ve seen everything and then you get a case like that,” Shook said. “It was a very satisfying victory.”