Charges against former WilCo sheriff falter

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas – Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and former Assistant District Attorney Jason Nassour face multiple charges of conspiracy and tampering with video evidence.

On Wednesday, August 14, a video was played in court, but it was from a 2018 meeting of the Williamson County Commissioners. The video showed a discussion about a contract with the producers of a television show called “Live PD.”

Dan Gattis, who was a district judge at the time, said in the video and later on the witness stand that he had concerns about the contract. He described the trial as rushed, so he halted it so district attorneys could review it.

As he left the courtroom, Gattis expressed doubts about why prosecutors had subpoenaed him.

“But that doesn't surprise me. I mean, I don't know what this is about, but there's a lot of circumvention of the treaty,” Gattis said.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Nassour drafted the original contract with Live PD, which included a clause allowing the production company to delete raw video 90 days after it was recorded.

In 2018, Nassour told commissioners that the deadline was to prevent the sale of unused videos to another company over which the county had no control. The deal was approved by commissioners, but the retention clause was shortened to 30 days.

A change that was obviously not made by Nassour but by the Commissioner's General Counsel, Hal Hawes, and which damaged the position of the prosecutor.

“The bottom line is that the court agreed. Yes,” Gattis said.

When asked if he thought the contract was in any way intended to cover up anything, Gattis said, “No.”

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Because of this death in custody in 2019, the contract is a central part of the process.

A Live PD team was with Williamson County officers when Javier Ambler was arrested for a traffic violation. The pursuit ended in Austin and Ambler died of a heart attack.

Austin police, who were monitoring the crime scene, never obtained a search warrant to seize Live PD's camera equipment, and the court ruled that federal law allowed the production crew to leave with their equipment.

Judge Sage repeatedly pointed out to prosecutors that it was legally irrelevant who had allowed the crew to disappear with the equipment because the officer on the scene had never received a search warrant.

Due to missteps by Travis County prosecutors, the raw video could not be obtained before it was deleted.

Prosecutors spent much of the morning trying to prove that the contract, signed before Javier Ambler's death, was entered into with the purpose of facilitating the tampering and destruction of video evidence.

James Johnson knows the allegations. He is one of the Williamson County police officers who tried to stop Javier Ambler.

He appeared in court on Wednesday to support his former boss.

“My life will never be the same again. And that's why I feel sorry for him. I don't think he deserves to be in this position. The courts will do what they will do once all the evidence is presented. And I think he will end up in the same position as me,” Johnson said.

Johnson and his deputy, Zack Camden, were acquitted by a jury. Johnson believes the current prosecution against Chody and Nassour is not about getting justice for Ambler's family.

“I feel like their grief was only delayed by political persecution. And I feel very sorry for them. I believed what they were told at the beginning, which of course turned out not to be accurate, correct or factual. And that's why we were exonerated in my case. But I think that this just starts the grieving process all over again for the Ambler family,” Johnson said.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that the loss of the video violates the Michael Morton Act, which requires prosecutors to preserve evidence and make it available to defense attorneys.

But defense attorneys showed the jury during cross-examination a section of the contract that also undermined that argument, noting that Live PD was obligated to preserve any video and turn it over if ordered to do so by the court.

On Thursday, August 15, testimony is expected from Williamson County General Counsel, who extended the contract with Live PD from 90 to 30 days.