AUSTIN, Texas — Day 4 of testimony in the trial of two former Williamson County deputies charged with manslaughter in the death of Javier Ambler wrapped up on Thursday, with the jury watching more body and dash camera video.
On Thursday, the courtroom heard first from James David, the assistant chief over law enforcement for the Williamson County Sheriff's Office.
David came to the scene while medics were still performing CPR on Ambler. The jury watched his body camera footage, hearing him talk to Johnson and Camden after they used a Taser on Ambler.
In the video, David asks Johnson what happened.
"He's not doing what I'm telling him to do, 'get on the ground, stop, stop, stop.' So I switched, I transitioned to less-lethal. Gave him two more commands, he wouldn't, I zapped him. By the time I hit him, he fell to the ground. I had support, we jumped on him, start trying to get him to comply," Johnson said.
Later in the video, Johnson said he "didn't want to hurt that guy," referring to Ambler.
David asked Camden for his recollection of what happened.
"How was he being non-compliant?" David asked in the video.
"He was pulling away from an APD officer when he had his hand, I was on his neck, I was trying to get his right hand, kept trying to pull it. I gave up, he was a big dude, I couldn't get his hand," Camden said.
This all happened as a television crew from the show "Live PD" was recording. The jury heard from two crew members, Jeffrey Miles Moriarty and Colin Mika.
Moriarty worked as a producer and camera operator and rode with Camden that night. In his testimony, Moriarty said during the defense's cross-examination that Ambler was "actively resisting," requiring three people to get handcuffs on him. Moriarty said he has worked with law enforcement for many years and has knowledge of how they operate. The defense asked Moriarty if he saw Camden do anything "reckless," and Moriarty said he did not think so.
"All I was thinking was this is absolutely crazy that this guy wrecked out many times and is now struggling with him. Again, I thought it was gonna be a foot chase, them struggling to get him cuffed. To me, seems like what any deputy would have done and any cop would have done – 'First things first, let's detain this person,'" Moriarty said.
Mika worked as a camera operator and rode with Johnson that night. Here is how the state questioned Mika:
"At any point during this encounter, if you had been in true fear for your life, would you have fled back to the car, taken cover of some kind? You talked about his size, how he could have attacked you, but it appeared to me – and correct me if I'm wrong – that you continued at very close range to film all the way up through when CPR was being administered. Is that correct?" prosecutor Holly Taylor asked.
"That's correct," Mika said.
"At any point, did you take a step backwards and caution? Did you move behind Mr. Ambler's car, behind Mr. Johnson's car to take cover?" Taylor asked.
"No. Once he was on the ground and they had some control over the situation, I felt it was OK to be where I was," Mika said.
"And you kept filming?' Taylor asked.
"Correct," Mika said.
The judge also told the jury that the state failed to turn over an unrelated arrest warrant for Ambler, calling it "exculpatory evidence" and saying they were required to turn it over under the Michael Morton Act.
Day 5 of testimony is expected to start Friday morning.