BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Former Los Alamos Police Department detective Matthew Lyon has been charged with perjury, a fourth degree felony, in connection with testimony July 17, 2023 preliminary hearing before Los Alamos Magistrate Judge Catherine Taylor in the case of State vs Eric Greene. The documents were filed by Justin Dominguez, a special investigator with the Fifth Judicial Court.
Lyon resigned from LAPD October 17, 2023, following three months of administrative leave.
On May 17, Magistrate Judge Ann Maxwell-Chavez signed a warrant for Lyon’s arrest with a requirement that he be held without bond pending his first court appearance. On May 20, Judge Maxwell-Chavez ruled in favor of a motion filed by Lyon’s attorney John D’Amato to cancel the arrest warrant because Lyon was prepared to appear before the Court.
On May 22, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies appointed Fifth Judicial District Attorney Dianne Luce as the special prosecutor in the case.
The Los Alamos Reporter was present in the courtroom July 17, 2023, as Asst. First Judicial Attorney Kent Wahlquist questioned Lyon and three other LAPD detectives as witnesses in the case and Greene’s defense attorney William H. Snowden cross-examined the four witnesses.
Moving on to then Det. Lyon’s testimony, Snowden asked Lyon multiple questions about Lyon’s interaction with a confidential informant (CI) connected to the Greene case, including wheter Lyon has ever gone fishing with her, played tag with her in town with his patrol car or hung out at her house. Lyon responded ‘no’ to each question. Snowden’s final question to Lyon was if he had ever had a”physically amorous relationship with the CI”. Lyon aksed for the definition of “amorous” and was told, “physically intimate”, and he responded. “no”.
Snowden asked Lyon if that was his testimony under oath and Lyon responded that it was.
“And if the CI said different, she would be lying,” Snowden asked. “Yes,” responded Lyon.
Snowden then requested to introduce video into evidence and both attorneys left the courtroom at Judge Taylor’s direction to review the video. After being informed by Wahlquist that the charges against Greene had been dismissed, the Los Alamos Reporter, reached out to JoHanna Cox, who was at that time the public information for District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies to ask why the charges were dismissed at that point of the preliminary hearing. Her response was as follows:
“The First Judicial District Attorney discussed with the LAPD case agent (Det. Montoya) the strengths and weaknesses of the case, taking into account how evidence came out during the preliminary hearing and that the Defendant (Eric Greene) completed an in-patient treatment program a few weeks prior to the hearing. Based on all of those factors discussed with the LAPD case agent, the FJDA’s Office dismissed the case.”
Snowden, on the other hand, said that after consideration of the videos and audios, and in light of Lyon’s testimony, Wahlquist had decided to dismiss the case with prejudice. Snowden said the videos clearly contradicted every particular of Lyon’s sworn testimony.
Thereafter, LAPD Chief Dino Sgambellone told the Los Alamos Reporter that he has initiated an investigation into the situation and that as a matter of procedure, Lyon had been placed on administrative leave pending its conclusion.
Almost two months later in September 2023, the Reporter began reaching out to the District Attorney’s Office to follow up on any action being contemplated with regard to Lyon. The Reporter asked if perjury charges were being considered by the FJDA for Lyon and with charges in two cases already have being dismissed, if there was a plan to prosecute him. The FJDA Office’s response was that the case was being reviewed. Following subsequent correspondence, the Reporter was informed by FJDA that the investigation into the possible perjury was “being handled by LAPD, and the FJDA has conflicted everything related to it out to the 5th Judicial District Attorney.”
The Reporter continued to pursue information on the disposition of the investigation October and November, and following a January 27 email to Carmack Altwies and Chief Deputy DA Jennifer Padgett, received a reponse stating, “The FJDA maintains that we have not been privy to any developments in this case since we were conflicted out.” Court documents filed by Dominguez indicate that he was appointed by Carmack Alwies just three days earlier in the FJDA as a special investigator to her office.
Court documents filed by Dominguez indicated that Lyon had been alone with the CIs in the case, had been fishing with them and had entered into a physically intimate relationship with a CI on or between May 1, 2022 and July 17 2023.
“Close review of all evidence obtained confirms the allegations that Matthew Lyon perjured himself on the stand under oath by lying about his relationship with Cora Bigelow and time spent alone with Cora and Justin/Tina,” Dominguez said, and based on the aforementioned facts, Dominguez believed there was probably cause for issuance of the arrest warrant.
Dominguez said he was appointed on Jan. 22, 2024 as the special investigator for the FJD Carmack Altwies and sworn in as such by District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. In November 2023, Dominguez said he began conducting an investigation into allegations concerning Lyon on allegations that he perjured himself on the stand under oath during a magistrate court hearing. in front of Taylor. The review, he said consisted of recordings of July 17, 2023, several photographs, videos. recordings of interviews of videos conducted and legal letters submitted.
A first appearance for Lyon has been set in Los Alamos Magistrate Court on June 14 before Judge Maxwell-Chavez.