AUSTIN, Texas — The evidence tampering trial of former Williamson County sheriff Robert Chody and assistant county attorney Jason Nassour has been put on hold indefinitely.
Travis County Judge Karen Sage granted a stay of the proceedings Thursday after going back and forth with state and defense attorneys all morning.
“I have never been in a situation like this before,” Sage said. “It is chaos right now.”
Prosecutors filed a Notice of Appeal on Thursday morning, asking the Third Court of Appeals to review a pre-trial ruling made by Sage. That also means they would pause the trial until they get a response from that appellate court.
Before the trial started, Sage ruled that under the Privacy Protection Act (PPA) – a federal law that protects journalists from law enforcement seizing their footage or material – Chody and Nassour did not have a right to seize "Live PD" crews’ footage from the scene of Javier Ambler’s death.
A crew for the reality show was riding along with Williamson County deputies and filming the night that Ambler died.
Prosecutors claim Sage's ruling meant that parts of their indictment would be preempted by federal law and they would not be allowed to enter certain pieces of evidence. They say without that, they could not prove their case.
Austin-based defense attorney Amber Vazquez, who has been watching this trial unfold, said this strategy by prosecutors was their last ditch effort to prove their case.
“I think without that central theory, it would make it very difficult to go forward," Vazquez said.
The defense attorneys in the trial fought back against the state’s motion to pause proceedings, saying that it would set a dangerous precedent. They worried in the future, this would allow the state to file motions while a trial is underway and get proceedings paused if a trial is not going in their favor.
Vazquez said she has never seen the state appeal a ruling during the middle of a trial in her 21 years of practicing law.
“In a trial, and we all go through trials. Judges make rulings," Vazquez said. "Sometimes, we agree with them; sometimes, we absolutely don’t. But there’s rarely a circumstance in which you pause the entire proceedings, especially when you’ve already had a jury impaneled. That is a really rare remedy.”
Attorneys were also concerned about the impact this could have on the jury. Judge Sage excused the jury indefinitely this morning, but said the same jurors will be used when the trial resumes.
“These jurors are going to go home to their family or friends, their jobs, and this is the top headline," Vazquez said. "It’s going to be hard not to intake any of that and let it affect you as a juror.”
Sage signed the Notice of Appeal, effectively pausing the trial for now.
There is currently no clear timeline for when the Third Court of Appeals could come back with a decision.
Background on the case
Crews with "Live PD" were riding with Williamson County deputies on the night that they tried to pull Ambler over for failing to dim his headlights. That turned into a 22-minute chase. Once he stopped, deputies Tazed Ambler and later died.
A jury acquitted the deputies who were accused of Ambler’s death back in March.
Prosecutors allege Chody and Nassour conspired to create a contract with "Live PD" to destroy videos from ridealongs after 30 days. They say that the contract was backdated so that it included the video of Ambler’s death, and as a result, that footage was eliminated.