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Day 2 of testimony wraps up in trial of former Williamson County deputies accused in Javier Ambler's death

J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden are charged with manslaughter in connection with Ambler's death in 2019.

AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: A previous version of this article stated that one of the witnesses works for the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. The article has been updated to reflect that the witness works for the district attorney's office.

Day two of testimony wrapped up Tuesday in the trial of two former Williamson County deputies, J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden, who are charged with manslaughter in connection with Javier Ambler's death in 2019. 

At the time, Ambler told law enforcement he had congestive heart failure before dying in their custody. Reality show "Live PD" was filming during Ambler's arrest. 

The first witness that testified Tuesday was Sgt. Robert Gilbert, who finished his testimony from the first day of the trial. He discussed standard law enforcement practices.

The second witness that testified was Sgt. Billy Parks with the Austin Police Department, who assisted with the scene afterwards and collected the Tasers used on Ambler.

RELATED: Testimony begins in trial over 2019 death of Javier Ambler

The third witness was Jake Palmer, a paramedic with Austin-Travis County EMS, who treated Ambler. The state questioned him first. 

"Did you observe anything personally that led you to the conclusion that he had been Tased?" a prosecutor asked. 

"Yes, there were multiple Taser lines that made it really difficult to get his hands around from him – remember cutting them a couple times," Palmer said. 

The defense proceeded to cross-examine Palmer about Ambler's health in relation to his encounter with law enforcement. 

"If a person is evading police in a vehicle, would you expect that to be an exciting event for that person that would lead to an elevated heart rate?" defense attorney Ken Ervin asked.

"Yes," Palmer said. 

"And do you think that effect would be cumulative – meaning if it's for one minute, that's not great; for five, it's worse; 10, it's worse; 20, it's worse?" Ervin asked. 

"I'm not sure of the effects over time, but from my understanding, once you get a certain amount of adrenaline pumped into your system, you're going to stay at that pulse rate throughout the duration. But, of course, it's not great to stay there," Palmer said. 

RELATED: Javier Ambler case: Jury in trial of former Williamson County deputies will have no Black members

The fourth witness was Ron Baldwin, a digital evidence coordinator with the Williamson County District Attorney's Office. In the trial, it was mentioned Baldwin offered to make a higher quality dash camera video of Johnson’s dash camera, but the district attorney's office didn’t take him up on it. He made it anyway and brought it to court. It was supposed to be turned over to the defense last month and was not.

Ervin made a motion for a mistrial because he said the state failed to turn over higher quality footage. He also asked for sanctions to prevent the state from airing any dash camera footage of Johnson. The judge hasn’t made a ruling yet but is expected to on Wednesday.

Det. Erin Truho, the case's lead detective, discussed the details of the investigation. In the past, Truho has testified how she tried unsuccessfully to get reality TV footage showing Ambler's final moments. 

"During the course of my investigation, I wasn't able to determine the members of the crew themselves. I had difficulty determining that and getting that information from Williamson County Sheriff's Office," Truho said. 

The defense did not get the chance to cross-examine Truho on Tuesday. A "Live PD" producer is expected to testify on Wednesday. 

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