Dallas County Grand Jury No-Bills Detective Accused of Tampering and Perjery in Case Against Fellow Officer

A Dallas Police homicide detective accused of tampering with a murder investigation into a fellow officer was no-billed Friday by a Dallas County grand jury.

The grand jury’s action clears Det. Esteban Montenegro of two felony charges of tampering with records and one misdemeanor charge of perjury related to the capital murder case of former Dallas police officer Bryan Riser.

Riser was accused of ordering three other people to commit the 2017 murders of two victims.

The case against Riser was dismissed by a judge who ruled there was a lack of probable cause to connect Riser.

In court, Montenegro admitted mistakes he made in initial court papers for the charges against Riser. The papers said there was evidence that did not exist.

Riser’s defense attorney Toby Shook said the lack of evidence showed Riser should never have been arrested in the first place.

Montenegro’s attorney Messina Madson said his only goal was to pursue justice.

“It stemmed on whether or not these were mistakes made or deliberate intentional knowing wrongdoing. I will submit to you detective Montenegro’s name has been dragged through the mud. He’s a good man. He’s a good detective. He was doing his best to do his job. And one of the things that’s most important and we want in all law enforcement is they admit when they make mistakes. And he did exactly what we want somebody to do,” Madson said.

Through Shook, Riser reacted on Friday to Montenegro’s no-bill in a statement to NBC 5’s partners at The Dallas Morning News.

“I’m very disappointed that he wasn’t indicted,” Riser said. “I’m an innocent man, and I never should’ve been arrested.”

Riser last May filed a lawsuit against Montenegro seeking compensation on lost wages, mental pain and anguish and legal fees.

Attorneys for both officers told NBC5 on Friday that they want their jobs back. Montenegro remains on administrative leave from the Dallas Police Department. A spokesperson said a pending internal affairs investigation will now resume.

Police Chief Eddie Garcia declined to reverse Riser’s termination, even after Riser’s criminal charges were dropped. An appeal of that firing is also pending.

A case is still pending against three people who remain charged for the original 2017 homicide.