Overview
- Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced the dismissal Wednesday, July 1, 2026, after courts left a May appeals ruling in place that bars the state from introducing the disputed Live PD material.
- Robert Chody, the former Williamson County sheriff, and former assistant county attorney Jason Nassour were indicted in 2020 on charges that they caused Live PD video of Javier Ambler’s 2019 death to be destroyed or withheld.
- Prosecutors say the missing reality-show footage was central to proving evidence tampering, while the defendants argued federal journalist-protection law and First Amendment concerns meant the video could not be seized or used.
- The criminal dismissal closes the prosecutions but follows earlier outcomes tied to the case: a $5 million wrongful-death settlement with Ambler’s family in December 2021 and the 2024 acquittals of two deputies on manslaughter charges.
- The case reshaped policy and procedure by prompting the Javier Ambler Act banning formal law-enforcement reality-TV partnerships and highlighting how trial- and appellate-level evidentiary rulings can determine whether sensitive evidence is ever aired or adjudicated.