Dropped charges lead to malicious prosecution lawsuit in Texas

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Two former officials have filed a lawsuit against Travis and Williamson counties. Included as defendants are Travis County DA Jose Garza and Williamson County DA Shawn Dick, both of whom are accused of malicious prosecution.

What we know:

The civil lawsuit was filed on July 17th by former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and Assistant County Attorney Jason Nassour. Both men faced evidence tampering charges in connection to a 2019 in-custody death.

On March 28th, 2019, Williamson County Deputies attempted to pull over Javier Ambler, after he reportedly failed to dim his headlights. Ambler would lead deputies on a chase that ended in Travis County. 

After crashing his vehicle, deputies used a stun gun on him multiple times, with Ambler eventually dying in police custody. A camera crew from Live PD, a documentary style police show, was also on scene at the time of Ambler’s arrest. The incident was never broadcast and footage captured at the scene would be deleted.

In 2020, the Williamson and Travis County District Attorneys Offices brought charges against Chody and Nassour, accusing them of tampering with the video footage obtained by Live PD. At the time of Ambler’s death, the Wilco Sheriff’s Department was engaged in an agreement with the show’s production company, Big Fish Entertainment, in which raw footage from Live PD would be deleted after 30 days. 

Prosecutors said that Chody and Nassour should have seized the footage in Ambler’s death but failed to do so, causing the footage to be destroyed and never seen by the public. 

Chody and Nassour argued the seizure would have violated federal law, and the only legal way to obtain the footage would have been through a subpoena, in which the defense for Nassour and Chody blamed the Travis County DA’s office for incorrectly filing, allowing the footage to be deleted.

Dig deeper:

Prosecutors from both Williamson and Travis County District Attorney’s Offices would dismiss the charges against the two on July 1st. The dismissal was the result of a May appeals court ruling that declined its petitions for discretionary review in the cases, which prevented the DA's office from presenting evidence of Chody and Nassour's alleged guilt.

Now Nassour and Chody are accusing Jose Garza and Shawn Dick of prosecutorial misconduct. Their recent lawsuit reiterates that the two men did not own or possess Live PD’s footage, and that seizing the video would have been legally impossible. 

The press release on their lawsuit calls the case a "baseless, politically motivated criminal prosecution that dragged on for nearly six years, consumed untold taxpayer resources, and destroyed the lives of two innocent men, all over Live PD footage that Plaintiffs never owned, never possessed, never controlled, and were legally prohibited from seizing without a valid court order." 

The lawsuit makes claims of malicious prosecution, unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment, due process violations, selective prosecution, vindictive prosecution, First Amendment retaliation, Monell municipal liability against both counties, abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. 

Chody and Nassour are seeking compensatory damages for "the immense harm they have suffered."

The lawsuit reiterates that Nassour and Chody never owned or possessed Live PD's footage and had no right to seize it, with a lawyer representing both saying in a statement: 

"These prosecutors wanted our clients to commit an unlawful seizure—and then prosecuted them for six years for not doing it. That is not law enforcement. That is not justice. That is prosecutorial tyranny," said Ryan Johnson, an attorney representing Chody and Nassour. 

What's next:

FOX 7 reached out to both district attorneys in Travis and Williamson counties for comment, but have not heard back so far.

Crime and Public SafetyTravis CountyWilliamson CountyTexas