WilCo Sheriff Chody Indicted Over In-Custody Death Video

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — A Williamson County grand jury has indicted Sheriff Robert Chody on charges related to video of an in-custody death of a man tased multiple times by deputies during a taping of the now-canceled reality show "Live PD," officials confirmed on Monday.

Javier Ambler died on March 2019 after deputies pulled him over for failing to dim his headlights as he passed them on a roadway, which led to a 22-minute chase that ended in Travis County. As seen in video footage that later emerged, Ambler complained of an inability to breathe before losing consciousness as cameras for the now-defunct "Live PD" show rolled. However, prosecutors later charged additional video was summarily destroyed as investigations into the matter heightened.

A formal booking for Chody appears on the Williamson County Jail records site, showing a felony charge of tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair an investigation. Bail is set at $10,000, according to the entry. Austin attorney Jason Nassour, who previously served as general counsel for the county, also was indicted on the same charges.

Both men were arrested and released on bond earlier today on the charges, according to the county district attorney. Their first court date is scheduled Nov. 30, the DA added.

A booking photo posted on the Williamson County Jail records site Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, shows this photo of Chody posing in front of the seal of the sheriff's department he leads.

Previous coverage:

Screenshot from the Williamson County Jail.

Jason Nassour, 48, was indicted by a grand jury on an evidence tampering charge. Booking photo provided by the Austin Police Department.

Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick and and his Travis County counterpart Margaret Moore held a news conference Monday afternoon to discuss the grand jury indictments in greater detail. The taped news conference appears below:

Following that announcement by prosecutors, Chody confirmed via Twitter he also would stage a news conference outside the sheriff's office at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the indictment.

DAs for Travis, Williamson counties stage news conference

The district attorneys for Travis and Williamson counties were not able to provide too many details during their joint press conference, other than confirm the indictment. Dick noted that both Chody and Nassour were named in the indictments on felony evidence-tampering charges, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Nassour served as general counsel for the Williamson County Attorney's Office from 2017 to 2020 before county commissioners voted to remove his position.

Asked if he would seek Chody's removal from office, Dick said his sole purpose was to further the investigation: "I have no plans to seek Sheriff Chody's removal," Dick said. "My job is simply to pursue the case and evidence. The evidence we're looking for is audio and video evidence from "Live PD."

For her part, Moore said Chody has been invited to testify on his behalf but was uncertain if he would avail himself of the opportunity. "I have no idea," she said in response to a reporter's question whether Chody would testify. "He's got a lawyer."

Moore was defeated in the primary election in her quest to retain her seat, and a successor will emerge after the Nov. 3 election. However, she said the grand jury portion of the investigation should wrap up before she steps down.

"My expectation is that this particular aspect of the case, the grand jury portion, could be complete before I leave office." She said it would be up to her successor to present the use of force case for trial.

Attorney calls Chody a political "scapegoat"

Chody's lawyer, Gerry Morris, said Chody was a "scapegoat" in the racially tinged case, suggesting the county case only became an issue amid current calls for police reform by Black activists. "The Javier Ambler case lay on somebody's desk for months, and didn't become topical until George Floyd's death," the criminal defense attorney said. "And then with the press reporting, it became an issue in a personal campaign. Somebody had to explain why nothing had been done. The reason nothing had been done is because it'd been determined that the deputies acted appropriately. But when the heat was on, they had to blame somebody so Robert Chody is the scapegoat. That's what this case is about."

The attorney was dismissive of prosecutors' claims there was anything of a critical nature on the sought "Live PD" video footage: "To say that this was critical evidence is, again, baloney. There were body cameras, there were car-dash-mounted cameras, there was an APD [Austin Police Department] chopper in the air that followed Mr. Amblers's fleeing from the deputies. Those videos showed completely what happened. There was nothing that was on those 'Live PD' videos that could in any way alter the outcome of this case."

Chody calls DA 'vindictive,' points to previous case

For his part, Chody at his news conference denied he had tampered with evidence. He categorized the accusations as politically motivated given the upcoming November election. He called Dick "petty" and "vindictive" for pursuing the case, framing the prosecutor's actions as politically driven. Chody, a Republican, faces Democratic challenger Mike Gleason in the Nov. 3 election.

During the press conference, Chody claimed pursuit of the Ambler video case was rooted in vindictiveness on the part of the Williamson County district attoney. In buttressing his argument, Chody pointed to a previous incident involving a volunteer on his primary campaign who inadvertently staked a political sign at the wrong house, prompting Dick's office to investigate the matter.

"Let me give this conference some perspective," Chody began. "This was not my first run-in with District Attorney Shawn Dick. Earlier this year, one of my campaign volunteers was placing yard signs during the March primary that had been requested by my campaign supporters. By delivering these signs, the volunteer accidentally placed a isgn at the wrong home. Understandably, the homeowner was unhappy about this. But instead of the homeonwer complainging, a known supporter of my opponent who lived nearby filed a complaint claiming intimidation by myself."

Chody said he expected the matter to be resolved quicky, only to learn the sign incident was potentially being pursued to referred to other law enforcment agencies for further investigation, Chody claimed.

"Since it was an honest mistake made by a volunteer, I expected the matter to be handled quickly," Chody said. "But the DA dragged out this complaint. When I finally asked the DA, Shawn Dick, for an update, he said he was considering referring the matter to the Texas Rangers or the attorney general's office. I couldn't believe it. All of this was over a yard sign that was mistakenly placed by a volunteer during a campaign.

"As you can see, this is how petty our DA, Shawn Dick, has been in the past. So it's no surprise that he's continued to act in a vindictive and poitically motivated manner by seeking an indctment in this case. We're now about one month from elction, and the DA is just now acting on a case that is nearly two years old. The facts are very clear — and let me be very clear — I did not tamper with evidence."

Asked by a questioner if he planned to step down in light of the indictment, Chody was succint in his answer: "Absolutely not."

Heckler mars Chody's press conference

Chody's news conference was interrupted by a resident who claimed abuse at the hands of deputies during a police confrontaion earlier this year. The man shouted at Chody's attorney, asking why footage of his encounter hadn't been released to him.

The man identified himself by name, demanding video footage of his arrest as well. The attorney bristled while claiming he knew nothing of the case. As he took to the lectern, Chody ignored the man while continuing with his remarks as the man heckled him throughout his presentation.

When Chody proclaimed he did not tamper with evidence, the man feigned a cough while simultaneously uttering the word for the expletive b.s. as part of his heckling as the sheriff spoke at the lectern. KXAN provided tape of Chody's news conference that includes the heckling just after the 30-minute mark.

District Attorneys outline case, future steps

Following their news conference, both Dick and Moore released a separate statement that began with an outlining of the Ambler case, as well as what the next steps would be prior to a trial.

"On March 28, 2019, Williamson County Sheriff's Deputies pursued Ambler's car from Williamson County into Travis County where he died while deputies were trying to take him into custody," the statement begins. "The pursuit and apprehension of Mr. Ambler was recorded by film crews for the television show, Live PD, which was riding with deputies in their patrol cars,

"The video footage that was recorded is the subject of the indictments. The video was requested as part of the investigation into the death of Mr. Ambler. It was never produced to the Austin Police Department's Special Investigations Unit, which conducted the investigation into the use of force by Williamson County deputies.

"On June 19, 2020, Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick and Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore released a joint statement informing the community of a shared purpose in obtaining long-deserved answers for the family of Javier Ambler. As that investigation continued, the Williamson County grand jury heard from 19 different witnesses and concluded there was enough evidence to return the indictinents for conduct that occurred in Williamson County.

"In Travis County, a Grand Jury will be empaneled the third week in October to hear evidence concerning conduct related to the Live PD video footage that occurred in Travis County. Ultimately this grand jury will hear the evidence related to the use of force in the death of Mr. Ambler."

Added Moore: "We are proceeding with the tampering investigation first because the video footage is critically material to the use of force case."

For his part, Dick cited his oath as a prosecutory as the crux of his pursuit of the case: "In following my oath to uphold the Constitution and laws, I was required to present the evidence to a Williamson County Grand Jury that led to their decision to indict Sheriff Cody and Assistant County Attorney Jason Nassour," he said.

Chody releases piecemeal statements on indictment

Hours after his news conference, Chody issued piecemeal prepared statements responding to the indictment he said has been "engineered" by the Williamson County district attorney. He shared the statements via Twitter and Facebook.

Like the campaign yard sign incident he used in claiming vindictiveness on the county district attorney's part, one of those short statements accused Dick of seeking to defund police as the reason for pursuing the Ambler case. Despite the DA's efforts, Chody vowed in another post that he would prevail in the upcoming election before being ultimately exonerated to "...continue to protect and serve the people of Williamson County."

Ambler died as "Live PD" cameras rolled

Ambler, a Black father of two children, was returning to his Pflugerville home after visiting friends when he passed deputies on a roadway who gave chase after he failed to dim his headlights, as Patch previously reported. He repeatedly complained of an inability to breathe after deputies held him down before losing consciousness prior to his death, as police footage of the arrest obtained by the Austin American-Statesman and its news partner KVUE showed.

The case reignited controversy over the Williamson County Sheriff's Office former ties with the cable reality show "Live PD" that had its cameras rolling in capturing the action. The show's producers trained their cameras on the action as police pursued Ambler on March 28, 2019, but later said related footage from their production crews was destroyed.

Members of the Williamson County Commissioners Court moved to end participation by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office in the "Live PD" show, citing concerns over video footage stemming from arrests during the program's taping that automatically became the production firm's property despite its potential need as police evidence. Concerns also swirled over suspicions that deputies behaved more aggressively toward suspects during taping in the service of the reality show's dramatic narrative arc.

Despite the commissioners' actions to end the local participation with "Live PD," Chody later surreptitiously extended an agreement to continue his deputies' participation in the reality show, unbeknownst to commissioners who laid out the accusations in a lawsuit against the sheriff to compel him to stop participating in the filming. Despite its popularity as a rating juggernaut for the cable network A&E, the program was abruptly canceled after Ambler's death — effectively ending the county's ties with the production.

Chody's challenger, others react

Gleason, the Democratic opponent for the sheriff's seat, released a statement upon hearing news of the indictments: “Javier Ambler’s death remains a preventable tragedy. Today’s indictment is the first step towards allowing our community to heal. Javier Ambler should be alive today. Trust must be restored between the police department here in Williamson County and the public. Our job is to protect and serve. Somewhere along the line, Sheriff Chody and many members of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office lost their way. If elected, I will clean up our police department and restore that trust we so desperately need right now. It’s time for new leadership in the Williamson County’s Sheriff’s Office.”

Gilberto Hinojosa, the chair of the Texas Democratic Party, also released a statement: “Justice is on the way to being served. Sheriff Chody knowingly tampered with evidence and rewarded his police department with benefits for police brutality. That is sick. Sheriff Chody has shown that he is unfit to lead. The actions and culture he’s created are not in line with the department’s values.

State Rep. James Talarico also responded to the indictment. He noted his office now is seeking to bar law enforcement agencies from participating in police reality shows given the repercussions now seen in Williamson County.

"Since I learned about the senseless murder of Javier Ambler in June, I have consistently called for Sheriff Chody’s resignation,” Talarico said in a prepared statment. “This is the same sheriff who cut the county’s award-winning Crisis Intervention Team, promoted white supremacists in his department, and gave gift cards to his deputies for using force. In response to the heinous actions of Sheriff Chody, my office has been working closely with the Ambler family to write legislation that will ban Texas police departments from working with reality TV shows like ‘Live PD.' Our office is also supporting the Legislative Black Caucus as they finalize the George Floyd Act, a package of much-needed police reforms."