AUSTIN — The trial of two ex-Williamson County sheriff’s deputies charged with manslaughter in the custodial death of an Army veteran during a TV ride-along show continues Monday.
A six-man, six-woman jury could decide the fates of James Johnson and Zachary Camden later this week or early next week in the March 2019 demise of Javier Ambler II, 40.
Ambler, a father of two, was tased multiple times, investigators have said.
According to reports, he served in the Army, had worked as a rural postal carrier in Killeen and was an independent caterer.
Proceedings began Feb. 26 before 299th Criminal District Court Judge Karen Sage.
“Their conduct was unnecessary, unreasonable and unjustified,” prosecuting attorney Holly Taylor told the court during opening statements.
The former lawmen are being tried together. If convicted, they each could face up to 20 years in prison.
Johnson’s defense attorney, Ken Ervin, gave his opening argument Feb. 26, but Camden’s defense counsel, Doug O’Connell, is expected to deliver remarks later in the trial, officials said.
The defense team is so far relying on expert testimony to demonstrate their clients followed their training and acted in accordance with the law to restrain Ambler after he reportedly committed multiple violations during a chase that went from Williamson County into neighboring Travis County, where Austin police joined in.
At the time, the pursuit was covered by a film crew from “Live PD,” a now-canceled A&E ride-along TV show about law-enforcement activities.
The pursuit started with a man pulling into traffic in Round Rock about 1:30 a.m. with his high beams on and ended in his death 22 minutes later in north Austin.
The second day of the trial saw testimony from Jake Palmer, a paramedic with Austin-Travis County EMS, who treated Ambler at the scene. Palmer confirmed there were multiple Taser lines attached to Ambler that he had to cut in order to treat the fallen man.
Ervin asked whether the chase might have led Ambler, who suffered from heart disease, to have a prolonged elevated heart rate.
“I’m not sure of the effects over time, but from my understanding, once you get a certain amount of adrenaline pumped into your system, you’re going to stay at that pulse rate throughout the duration,” Palmer said. “But, of course, it’s not great to stay there.”
The jury also heard testimony from Austin Police Department Sgt. Robert Gilbert about law enforcement practices and Sgt. Billy Parks, who talked about his observations at the scene.
APD Detective Erin Truho with the Special Investigations Unit was questioned at length Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 by both sides regarding standard protocols when detaining suspects.
Ambler was tased because he did not immediately comply with an order to lie on the ground so he could be handcuffed, telling the officers he was unable to breathe, the court heard.
Three members of the “Live PD” production crew were in the deputies’ patrol cars when the chase was filmed, and dashboard camera footage shows a “Live PD” cameraman just inches away as Ambler was tased.
In the aftermath of Ambler’s death, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Javier Ambler’s Law in 2021, prohibiting Texas law-enforcement agencies from allowing on-duty filming for reality shows. The “Live PD” recording of the incident, which never aired, was destroyed. A pending lawsuit alleges some former Williamson County officials were involved.
On Feb. 28, the first witness to take the stand was Ruby Garson, associate producer and coordinator for “Live PD.” She was in the back seat of Camden’s patrol unit during the chase. She testified she heard Ambler tell officers he had a heart condition.
“Do you remember how many times he told them that?” asked prosecutor Taylor.
“A lot,” Garson said. On the fourth day of testimony, the jury heard more from the “Live PD” crew and was allowed to view APD and Sheriff’s Office footage from the incident.
James David, sheriff’s assistant chief, arrived at the scene while paramedics tried to resuscitate Ambler. The jury watched recordings from his body cam and heard in the defendants’ own words what happened.
“I started running directly by the car and pulled my gun out and he (Ambler) was making his way to the back of the car, but he was not, he’s not doing what I’m telling him to do, ‘Get on the ground. Stop! Stop! Stop,’ so I switched, I transitioned to less lethal, gave him two more commands, he wouldn’t. I zapped him,” Johnson is heard telling David.
The defendant then explained that after Ambler fell to the ground, he and other officers “jumped on him” to get him to comply. Johnson said that he heard Ambler saying he could not breathe.
Also in the video, Camden explained to David why they treated Ambler as being noncompliant.
“He was pulling away from an APD officer when he had his hand, I was on his neck, I was trying to get his right hand, kept trying to pull it, I gave up, he was a big dude, I couldn’t get his hand, I did not know what was underneath him. So, I deployed my Taser,” Camden said.
David testified that while the traffic stop may have originally been for the high-beam usage, once Ambler started evading arrest it became something different.
“What do we not know? Did this person just commit some heinous act against another person that we do not know about?” David told the court.
Ambler had an active warrant at the time, but testimony regarding whether the deputies were aware of the warrant has not been introduced yet.
The trial gets underway again this week at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center.
