Family Of Javier Ambler Sues WilCo After His In-Custody Death

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — The family of Javier Ambler II — the man who died in custody after being stopped by Williamson County deputies in 2019 — have filed a lawsuit in connection to his death, officials announced on Sunday.

The family is being represented in their civil lawsuit against Williamson County by noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump along with the the Austin-based Edwards Law Group, officials said in an emailed advisory. Attorneys have scheduled a news conference on Monday to discuss more details. Crump represented the family of George Floyd, the man who died after a police officer put a knee to his neck for nearly eight minutes while face down on the pavement in custody.

Ambler, a Black 40-year-old postal worker and father of two, died on March 28, 2019, after being repeatedly tased by deputies after they stopped him for not dimming his lights. In police video, Ambler is heard complaining of an inability to breathe and alerting to a congestive heart failure.

The encounter was captured by a video crew from the now-canceled "Live PD" reality show in which Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody participated along with some of his deputies. In September, Chody was indicted by a grand jury on evidence tampering charges in connection with video of the in-custody death.

Related stories:

• WilCo Sheriff Chody Indicted Over In-Custody Death Video
• Calls Grow For WilCo Sheriff To Resign After In-Custody Death
  
• WilCo Deputies Were Rewarded For Use Of Force: Report
  
• Possible Evidence Tampering Probed In WilCo In-Custody Death
• WilCo Sheriff, 'Live PD' Crew Reportedly Under Grand Jury Probe
  
• WilCo Commissioners Sue Chody Over 'LivePD' Contract
  
• WilCo Commissioners End 'Live PD' Contract
  
• WilCo Sheriff Chody Finds Himself Under Unwelcome Spotlight
• WilCo Sued After Mentally Ill Inmate's Death
• WilCo Seeks To Cut General Counsel's Job

While WilCo's participation on "Live PD" had its share of fans, county commissioners and many residents worried that deputies played up to the camera in acting more aggressively toward those they detained to ensure a higher level of drama for the reality show. Moreover, proprietary concerns related to footage prompted county commissioners to order the severing of ties with the film production company before Chody reignited the relationship unbeknownst to commissioners. County commissioners then sued Chody to compel the end of his private pact with the show's producers to reboot the show, which ultimately was canceled in June.

Attorneys representing Ambler's family offered additional details on their lawsuit on Monday via email. The complaint states Ambler was deprived, under color of law, of his clearly established rights as secured by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. "The complaint seeks compensatory and special damages and costs as permitted under federal law, including the Americans With Disabilities Act, in an amount to be determined by a jury," attorneys wrote.

Attorneys cited data indicating that use of force nearly doubled after the Williamson County Sheriff's Office began participating with "Live PD" filming. "During the periods when the TV show filmed its episodes, deputies used force significantly more often than when the cameras did not join the patrol," the Ambler family attorneys wrote.

“Sheriff Chody and his deputies made it a greater priority to create reality television than to defend and protect the citizens of Williamson County," Crump said in a prepared statement. "This was nothing short of disgusting. The sheriff and his department have a long history of excessive force against people of color, and this behavior dramatically increased when the TV cameras were on. They must be held accountable.”

Added Edwards: “By emphasizing the entertainment value of law enforcement, Williamson County forgot that its mission is to protect and serve the community. As a consequence, it endorsed practices that escalated conflict and in all likelihood caused officers to continue using excessive force, when they should have been helping Mr. Ambler while he was pleading for his life. It appears the county hired deputies with troubled disciplinary histories, and then failed to adequately supervise them – making the events leading to Mr. Ambler’s death much more likely to occur. While this may have served Live PD, it endangered the people of Williamson County.”

Attorney Romanucci focused on deputies' actions while Ambler was in distress: “The tragedy here is that Mr. Ambler, who had a heart condition and weighed nearly 400 pounds, did not receive assistance from deputies when he asked for medical help. Instead, he lost his life. He was unarmed and never threatened officers in any way, yet somehow, he was killed during the encounter. His death has been ruled a homicide, meaning death by the hands of another. He was very much alive before his encounter with police and we hold them fully responsible for his death.”

Ambler's father and namesake, Javier Ambler Sr., spoke of the impact the death of his son has had on the family: “My son’s life mattered. He mattered to his parents and family, he mattered to his friends, and, as any parent knows, he mattered to his sons. Our lives will never be the same because of this senseless tragedy and we will not rest until we receive justice in his name,”he said.

Attorneys outlined the two counts detailed in the complaint in synopsis form:

Count I– Fourth Amendment §1983 Monell Claim

The conduct by the officers identified in this Count and described herein constituted excessive and deadly force in violation of the Fourth Amendment United States Constitution as incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment, attorneys wrote.

Attorneys contend Williamson County had or ratified the following policies and/or practices in place when the Deputies killed Ambler:

• Engaging in reckless police chases, even when the suspect has only allegedly committed a trivial offense;
• encouraging officers to perform their jobs recklessly to produce more “entertaining” video for Live PD, including encouraging officers to unnecessarily use force and excessive force;
• using excessive force against suspects;
• encouraging excessive force by awarding deputies gift cards and the title “WilCo Badass” for using force;
• using excessive force against suspects to produce more “entertaining” video for Live PD;
• requiring all suspects to lie on their stomach for restraint;
• training officers that when a detainee says “I can’t breathe,” that they can continue to use force because the detainee is talking;
• inadequate training and policies concerning de-escalation of force;
• inadequate training and policies concerning police pursuits;
• inadequate training and policies concerning handcuffing, prone restraint and positional asphyxia;
• hiring officers who were unqualified or known to be inappropriate for law enforcement;
• failing to terminate officers despite knowledge of repeated unconstitutional, unlawful or improper conduct; and,
• encouraging escalation rather than de-escalation.

"Sheriff Chody was deliberately indifferent to the known and obvious consequences of these policies, practices, and customs which he was aware of, authorized, and encouraged, rather than acting to correct them," attorneys wrote.

"Likewise, Chody knew or should have known that training and encouraging his officers As policymaker to: 1) use excessive force (and otherwise provide more entertaining television for Live PD), 2) require all suspects to lay on their stomach for restraint, and 3) tell subordinates that if a suspect is able to say 'I can’t breathe' that they are fine because they are talking, were all particular omissions in the County’s training and policies that would cause county employees to violate the constitutional rights of members of the public they encountered, like Ambler. Nevertheless, though Chody knew of these obvious deficiencies, he chose to continue and perpetuate dangerously flawed policies and training, and the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department hierarchy ratified Sheriff Chody and his officers’ conduct, and continue to approve and condone the actions of deputies Johnson and Camden."

Even after Ambler’s death, attorneys contend, Chody continued to create “entertainment” with "Live PD" through the above "destructive policies," even defying the Williamson County Commissioners Court to do so.

Count II – American With Disabilities Act Claim

Under Title II of the ADA, “no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by such entity,” attorneys wrote.

Title II of the ADA requires public entities, such as the County, to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities in all programs and services for which people with disabilities are otherwise qualified, attorneys noted. Given that policing is a program and service provided by Williamson County for ADA purposes, Johnson and Camden were providing the service of taking Ambler into custody safely, the lawyers wrote.

The upshot, lawyers wrote:

• Ambler was a qualified individual with a disability within the meaning of the ADA in that he had physical impairments that substantially limited one or more major life activities here, the operation of his circulatory system due to his chronic congestive heart failure, and his mobility, due to his obesity.
• Johnson and Camden violated Title II of the ADA by failing to provide Ambler the reasonable accommodations that were needed and available to allow Ambler to receive the benefits of Williamson County’s programs and services. The county’s officers should have accommodated Ambler by:

— Refraining from using violence against Ambler as he had surrendered after he identified his disabilities;

— using “big boy” or “double” handcuffs to restrain Ambler;

— not forcing Mr. Ambler to lay on his stomach;

— ignoring Ambler when he said, “I can’t breathe;” and,

— using de-escalation tactics when Ambler’s physical disabilities left him unable to comply with their commands.

— failure to provide these reasonable accommodations was illegal discrimination under the ADA, entitling Plaintiffs to compensatory relief.

The attorneys now suing as a result Ambler's death are scheduled to provide additional details during a virtual news conference on Monday at 1 p.m. Patch will update this story once more details are secured. Attorneys notified Patch of expected receipt of the filed complaint one hour before the news conference on Monday.

In addition to representing the family of Floyd — whose death sparked protests calling for police reform nationwide — Crump also represented the families of Botham Jean and Michael Brown, the former shot inside his home by a former Dallas police officer in September 2018 and the latter fatally shot by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer in 2014, according to his website.