Robert Chody trial: Prosecutors' case against former WilCo sheriff starts to crumble
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and former assistant county attorney Jason Nassour are facing multiple charges of conspiracy and tampering with video evidence.
Video was played in court on Wednesday, August 14, but it was from a Williamson County Commissioners meeting back in 2018. The video was of a discussion regarding a contract with the producers of a TV show called "Live PD."
Dan Gattis, who was county judge at the time, said on the video, and later on the witness stand, he had concerns about the contract. He described the process as being rushed, which is why he put the brakes on it in order for county lawyers to review it.
As he left the court, Gattis expressed doubts about why prosecutors called him.
"But I’m not surprised. I mean, I don't know what the whole case is they got here, but it goes around the contract a lot," said Gattis.
Assistant county attorney Jason Nassour drafted the initial contract with Live PD. It included a clause to allow the production company to erase raw video 90 days after it was recorded.
In 2018, Nassour told commissioners the time limit was to prevent unused video from being sold to another company that the county had no control over. The deal was approved by commissioners, but the retention clause was reduced to 30 days.
A change that apparently was not made by Nassour, but by the commissioner's general counsel, Hal Hawes, which has damaged the prosecutor’s case.
"The bottom line, the court approved it. Yes," said Gattis.
When asked if he thought the contract was done in any way to conceal something, Gattis said, "no."
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This in-custody death in 2019 is why the contract is a key part of the trial.
A Live PD crew was with Williamson County deputies when Javier Ambler was taken into custody for a traffic violation. The chase had ended in Austin and with Ambler dying from a heart attack.
Austin police, who were in charge of the scene, never got a warrant to seize the Live PD camera equipment, and the court has ruled federal law allowed the production team to leave with their gear.
Judge Sage, on several occasions, pointed out to prosecutors that because of the law, it didn’t matter who allowed the crew to leave with the equipment because the officer on scene never got a warrant.
Missteps by Travis County prosecutors also prevented the raw video from being obtained before it was erased.
Prosecutors spent much of the morning trying to prove the contract, which was written before Javier Ambler's death, was done with the purpose of allowing video evidence to be tampered with and destroyed.
The accusations are familiar to James Johnson. He is one of the Williamson County deputies who tried to stop Javier Ambler.
He was in court Wednesday to support his former boss.
"My life will never be the same again. And so I feel bad for him. I do not believe that he deserves to be in this position. The courts are going to do what they're going to do once all the evidence is out there. And I think that he'll end up in the same position as me," said Johnson.
Johnson and deputy Zack Camden were acquitted by a jury. Johnson believes the prosecution now of Chody and Nassour is not about providing justice for Ambler’s family.
"I feel like that through political prosecutions, it only delayed their grief. And that's where my heart hurts for them. I believe what they were told initially, which obviously ended up not being exact or accurate or factual. And that's why we were exonerated in my case. But I believe that just restarts the grief process for the Ambler family," said Johnson.
Prosecutors are trying to show the loss of the video is a violation of the Michael Morton act which requires prosecutors to keep and provide evidence to defense attorneys.
But defense attorneys, during cross-examination, showed the jury a section of the contract which also hurt that argument. It was noted Live PD was required to retain and turn over any video, if ordered to do so by a court.
On Thursday, August 15, the Williamson County General Counsel, who modified the contract with Live PD to a 30-day hold from 90 days, is expected to testify.