A Texas grand jury has indicted Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody for alleged evidence tampering. If found guilty on the third-degree felony, he could face up to 10 years behind bars. Chody has denied any wrongdoing and claims the charge is politically motivated, given the timing.
Chody, who is up for reelection on November 3, was booked in his own jail on Monday and subsequently released on $10,000 bond. Williamson County deputies were regularly featured on Live PD.
The sheriff’s legal issues have arisen from the case of Javier Ambler, who died in police custody in March 2019 after being tased during a traffic stop in Austin, an incident that was recorded by Live PD cameras but never aired. Prosecutors in nearby Travis County are also investigating the incident.
An internal affairs investigation reportedly cleared the Williamson deputies involved.
“Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick and Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said in June that they were opening a joint investigation into the circumstances of Ambler’s death, including whether the video was illegally destroyed,” KHOU explained.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
A&E has said its video never aired because of a policy against showing a death, and it did not keep the footage after it was informed that the initial investigation had closed.
Court records show Chody is accused of destroying or concealing recordings ‘with intent to impair their ability as evidence in the investigation’ into Ambler’s death.
Chody said he never tampered with evidence and accused prosecutors of bringing the case to a grand jury to save their political careers and hurt his own chances of keeping his job.
On his Twitter feed, Chody, a Republican, insisted that “[D.A.] Dick wants to influence the election. He wants to join the chorus of folks who are attempting to undermine law enforcement, strip them of funds, and make our neighborhoods unsafe.”
He added that “From the beginning, the Ambler incident has been hampered by prosecutors failing to act, and then attempting to pass off responsibility for their inaction. In fact, it was only after the body cam video of the Ambler incident was released to the public that the Travis County DA began to move on the case.”
Chody is due in court on November 30. He has vowed not to step down from his law enforcement position. Interestingly enough, Chody does not need the job and hasn’t needed to work at all for about 20 years. He and his wife won $51 million in the Texas lottery jackpot in 2001.
Live PD host Dan Abrams has implied that the Ambler case may have played a role in influencing panicky A&E execs to cancel the immensely popular reality TV show in June.
Watch the entire news conference after the Sheriff Chody indictment below:
This is not the only legal issue Chody is facing. Williamson County commissioners are suing him for re-upping with Live PD without obtaining their approval.
