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Sheriff Chody asking for Texas Rangers to take over investigation into death of Javier Ambler
Sheriff Robert Chody says since the investigation began, they haven't been contacted by the Travis County DA, and are now asking for an outside agency to take over.
GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Williamson County Sheriff is asking for the Texas Rangers to get involved in the death investigation of Javier Ambler, after the Travis County District Attorney's Office accused the sheriff's office of stonewalling the investigation.
Sheriff Robert Chody says since the investigation began, they haven't been contacted by the Travis County DA, and are now asking for an outside agency to take over.
"I would like to see a true unbiased investigation by a quality law enforcement agency," Chody said. "Not saying Austin is not but when you have Travis County DA making comments completely untruthful, false, and lying about the sheriff's office stonewalling."
RELATED: Officer-in-custody death of Javier Ambler to go to grand jury this summer
Last week, DA Margaret Moore claimed on social media that she was having trouble getting information from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office on the in-custody death of Javier Ambler, an incident that happened about 16 months ago.
"The Travis County DA's office has not contacted us one time whether it was email or phone call," Chody said, disputing Moore's claim. "The DA has my cell phone number because she has called me in the past."
Moore also said she had difficulty getting video from Live PD and their producers. The show had crews on scene recording during the incident. However, Dan Abrams, Live PD's host, also says they have not been contacted by the DA's office.
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Calls for Sheriff Robert Chody to resign following in-custody death of Javier Ambler
Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody is being criticized for how he handled the investigation into the death of Javier Ambler, who died last year while being placed in custody by deputies.
RELATED: State Rep. James Talarico joins calls for Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody to resign
Moore provided the following statement:
"The Javier Ambler case will be presented to a Travis County grand jury as soon as one can be impaneled due to COVID-19.
I am fully committed to seeking justice and answering all questions for Mr. Ambler's family.
I think the common misconception is that these cases are easy to resolve and should be immediately presented to a grand jury. While I agree that the public is entitled to swift action and transparency to ensure justice for all sides, we have to make sure there is a thorough investigation into the facts of each case we receive. Sometimes this involves subpoenaing lab reports, phone records, ballistic reports, medical records, and other documents that are crucial to the case. It takes time to get these items from outside sources. To ensure the process is fair, we have to be able to anticipate the kinds of information the grand juries will want to know before we take a case before them. This is the same process that takes place in all felony cases."
RELATED: Williamson County Sheriff denies impeding death-in-custody investigation, will not resign
"How long has COVID been a problem for us? How long has it been for Travis County, would you say three months?" Chody said. "Four months, we've been on lockdown, so that leaves 12 months for the investigation, yet she can stand at the podium and accuse us for not cooperating. I think she's failing to investigate an in-custody death."
While Chody did not ask for Moore to resign, he did say he wants an apology.
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Chody says Ambler's death was reviewed by Internal Affairs, where he says they didn't find any violation of policy. He also stated the case is still currently open as they are waiting for the DA's case to conclude.