AUSTIN — Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and former Assistant County Attorney Jason Nassour will face a jury to answer charges related to evidence tampering in the 2019 death of Javier Ambler II.
The two will be tried together before 299th Travis County District Court Judge Karen Sage. Jury selection will begin Aug. 12 with the trial set to begin the following day.
Chody described the charges as “an utter collapse of the criminal justice system,” during a 2020 press conference. The indictment came just about a month before Chody lost his re-election bid and was defeated by Sheriff Mike Gleason.
Chody and Nassour have both pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy evidence related to video of Ambler’s in-custody death.
Former Sheriff’s Deputies James Johnson and Zachary Camden, whose use of force contributed to Ambler’s death according to the medical examiner, were acquitted of manslaughter charges earlier this month.
The former deputies were attempting to make a traffic stop for failure to dim headlights. Instead, Ambler led the officers on a 20-minute chase that ended when he crashed his car in north Austin. The officers used Tasers while trying to restrain Ambler. Ambler, who had heart disease among other health issues, died at the scene after telling officers he was unable to breathe.
At the time of Ambler’s death, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office had a contract with now-defunct A&E reality show “Live PD.” A production crew was riding along with Camden and Johnson, and evidence from an Austin police officer’s bodycam shows the television crew was filming during Ambler’s interaction with the deputies.
The video of the incident never aired on television and A&E producers revealed the footage was destroyed. Chody and Nassour are accused of being involved in the destruction of the footage, which prosecutors say should have been documented as evidence in the investigation of the officers’ actions.
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.
