Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody sues over 'Live PD' prosecution

Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and his former chief counsel, Jason Nassour, have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the district attorneys from Travis and Williamson counties, saying they never should have been charged in connection with the destruction of video from a TV reality show on the night a man died. 

Travis County prosecutors dismissed the tampering with evidence indictment against Chody and Nassour on July 1. It had been pending for six years.

The lawsuit was filed Monday against Travis County District Attorney José Garza, Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick, Williamson County Assistant District Attorney Michael Waldman, Travis County Assistant District Attorney Dexter Gildord and Travis and Williamson counties. The lawsuit says Chody and Nassour had no legal right to possess the video they were accused of tampering with because federal law prohibited them from seizing it. The video was owned by Big Fish Entertainment, which was filming a segment for the "Live PD" television show, the lawsuit said. It showed deputies using force during the arrest of Javier Ambler in March 2019.

Williamson County does not comment on pending lawsuits, said Connie Odom, a county spokeswoman. Travis County did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of damages.

Lawsuit challenges basis for prosecution

Ambler died after a 20-minute pursuit with Williamson County deputies that started because he failed to dim his headlights for oncoming traffic. After he crashed his car in North Austin, deputies used Tasers on him multiple times. A Travis County jury acquitted deputies J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden on manslaughter charges in 2024.

"After a jury acquitted the deputies, Defendants had the audacity to re-indict Nassour and Chody for allegedly impairing evidence of a prosecution that had already collapsed in front of the entire world," said a news release from Ryan Johnson, a lawyer for Chody and Nassour. "That is not law enforcement. That is vindictive persecution."

Johnson also said Shawn Dick, Jose Garza and their offices "spent six years and untold taxpayer dollars prosecuting two innocent men for a crime that was legally impossible. "They knew from the start that Jason Nassour and Robert Chody did not own, possess or control that footage. They knew their own subpoena was defective." 

Williamson County had a contract with Big Fish Entertainment to film "Live PD" that included a provision that unaired video could be destroyed within 30 days unless a court order or other state or federal law required it to be retained. 

Travis County prosecutors failed to subpoena the video from Ambler's arrest properly, the lawsuit said. 

"The Travis County subpoena was addressed to the wrong entity, demanded same-day production - an impossibility   - was served by mail rather than through proper interstate process, and was not received until after the contractual destruction deadline had already passed," according to the lawsuit. 

Case followed Ambler's death

The Ambler case was not publicly revealed until June 2020 through reporting by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV.  The case sparked questions nationally during the social justice movement after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis about the role of reality TV and law enforcement.

Dick, who partnered with Travis County to handle the case against Chody and Nassour, has previously said prosecutors believe they took steps to make sure footage collected by "Live PD" showing what happened was destroyed.

A ruling by a state district judge blocked prosecutors from presenting the evidence and led to the dismissal of the charges against Chody and Nassour, prosecutors have said. 

State District Judge Karen Sage limited testimony related to Chody and Nassour's involvement in the "Live PD" video at a trial in August 2024. Prosecutors appealed to the 3rd Court of Appeals, which initially ruled in the state's favor but later reversed itself. 

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, declined to hear the case, leaving the 3rd Court of Appeals' ruling as final. 

According to the news release issued by Chody and Nassour's lawyer, "this prosecution was born of political cowardice, not facts or law."

"After the George Floyd riots across the country, public pressure mounted in 2020 over the death of Javier Ambler - more than a year after Ambler died following a police pursuit that ended in Travis County. Prosecutors scrambled for scapegoats," the news release said.

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