Judge grants stay in tampering case against former sheriff Robert Chody, prosecutor

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Travis County judge granted state prosecutors a stay in the tampering trial against a former Williamson County sheriff and a former county prosecutor on Thursday. The stay effectively pauses the trial for an undetermined amount of time.

Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and Jason Nassour, a former prosecutor with the county, were charged with tampering with evidence related to the in-custody death of Javier Ambler in 2019.

According to court documents, the DA’s office, representing the State of Texas, appealed the judge’s previous decision on Wednesday denying a stay.

“The state has been looking forward to having a full and fair trial… [However], the state can’t continue at this time,” a state prosecutor said Thursday.

The filing indicates the state cannot prosecute parts of the indictment due to it being “preempted by federal law.”

‘This is chaos’

At one point, one of the defense attorneys said “this is chaos.”

After the jury was brought back in and was told what unfolded, Judge Karen Sage said “I am going to excuse you for jury service until this is resolved. And here’s the problem, I don’t know when that will be.”

KXAN tried to talk to prosecutors and defense attorneys after Thursday’s events, but both sides declined to comment.

What happens now?

KXAN spoke to local Austin attorney Logan Campbell, who is not connected with the case, for outside perspective on what happened in the courtroom.

“In a very high stakes case, (that’s) gathered a lot of media attention, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s unheard of, but yes, it is certainly very uncommon,” Campbell said, when asked about a stay being issued during the middle of trial.

With the state’s case now up in the air while it goes to an appellate court, it’s anyone’s guess as to when the trial could pick back up.

“As far as the time for the appeal, it’s really hard to make a good estimate on that,” Campbell added.

In many ways, Thursday’s actions bring more questions than answers. Twelve sworn-in jurors were sent home and the state told dozens of its witnesses to wait until the appeals court can make its decision.

‘It’s a logistical nightmare’

“It’s a logistical nightmare, for sure,” Campbell said. “Not only do you have the witnesses all lined up, you don’t necessarily know when they’re going to testify. You may have them in the morning, some in the evening, some in the next day.”

Campbell said one of the hardest parts for any prosecutor is lining up those witnesses and getting them ready for trial.

“That schedule is obviously changing and it’s an unforeseen change where you can’t necessarily give everyone a set time on when the trial is going to be resumed,” he said.

The only constant in the case now is no one knows when something will happen next.

Trial for deputies connected to the case

Two former Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies who were tried in connection with Ambler’s death were found not guilty back in March.

The deputies’ trial was a separate case and doesn’t have an impact on the outcome of the Chody and Nassour trial.

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