Grand jury to hear cases of officers involved in the deaths of Ramos, Ambler – Austin American-Statesman

Tony Plohetski,Katie Hall|Austin American-Statesman

Death in Custody: The story of Javier Antonio Ambler II

Published on June 8, 2020, the death of Javier Ambler sparked national outcry, cancelled a reality TV show and indicted a sheriff on felony charges.

Bront Wittpenn, Austin American-Statesman

Travis County District Attorney JosGarza has set a March 30 deadline for himself to ask a grand jury to consider charges against officers in the deaths of Javier Ambler and Michael Ramos, two cases that the new DA has set as a priority for his administration.

On Thursday,Garza released a list of about two dozen cases involving law enforcement officers that could be presented to a grand jury in the future,including six cases that involved the death of a civilian as well as 10 separate complaints from individuals who Austin police hit with beanbag rounds during the May 31 downtown protestagainst police brutality.

The oldest case is from nearly three years ago.

Garza also said he would present by the end of March cases involving former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and the Williamson County generalcounsel, Jason Nassour, related to possible evidence tampering charges after Ambler's death.

Chody and Nassour already have been charged with evidence tampering in Williamson County for their alleged role in the destruction of footage from the reality show "Live PD" in Ambler's death.

Garza also plans to present former Austin police officer Walter Dodds' case to the grand jury before March 30.Doddswas arrested in September on a charge of sexually assaulting a woman that he met while responding to a mental health call in April. He resigned from the Austin Police Department in August.

The cases involving people who were hit with beanbag rounds during the May 31 protest are expected to be presented to a grand jury in early fall, Garza said.

Austin police officer Justin Berry, a GOP candidate wholost the election for Texas House District 47 in November, was named as one of several officers being investigated for hitting protesters with beanbag rounds. Berry declined to comment Thursday.

Garza's list also revealed thatTravis County corrections officer Shannon Owens was indicted last month after investigators accused him ofpresenting a false affidavit for arrest and detention in April 2019. A grand jury on Dec. 16 indicted Owens on charges of aggravated perjury and tampering with a government record.

Owens is still employed with the Travis County sheriff's office on restricted duty, pending the outcome of his Internal Affairs investigation.

Garza said his office will giveupdates every two weeks on the cases that his office'scivil rights unit isreviewing.

Our community has been clear thatwhen law enforcement officers use deadly force, prosecutors must investigate the case quickly and with transparency, to ensure that no one is above the law, said Garza, who took office this month.

Garza's decision to take each case to a grand jury is a departure from former District Attorney Margaret Moore, who only presentedfor possible indictment cases in which prosecutors suspected officers committed a crime.

"At this point, results matter far more than words," said Jeff Edwards, an attorney who represents Ambler's family. "If the district attorney truly wants to honor the lives of Javier Ambler and Michael Ramos, he should state unequivocally that he is seeking an indictment against the officers who killed them because what they did was excessive, unreasonable and flat out wrong."

Grand juries should have heard these cases months ago, said attorneys for the deputies and officers involved in Ramos' and Ambler's deaths.

"Based on our knowledge of the facts, it is clear to us that the former DA (Margaret Moore) understood criminal indictments were neither warranted nor appropriate in either case, but she did not want to suffer the political consequences of declining prosecution or having a grand jury refuse to issue indictments," attorneysKen Ervin andDoug OConnell said in a statement Thursday. "We still welcome and encourage a fair and thorough review process where a grand jury hears all the evidence. If that happens, we are confident no indictments will issue."

Ervin and OConnell are representingformer Williamson County Deputies J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden, who resigned last year, and Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, who shot and killed Ramos.

Ambler died in March 2019. Johnson conducted a traffic stop of Ambler because he didnt dim his headlights. After chasing Ambler for 22 minutes, Johnson and Camden repeatedly used a stun gun on the 40-year-old Black father, who had a heart condition. He died while shouting, I cant breathe.

Ramos died in April.Officers had surrounded the car Ramos was in with his girlfriend in Southeast Austinafter receiving a 911 call reporting that they might be doing drugs and that one of them might have a gun. Taylor shot Ramos as Ramos drove away.

Ramos was not armed during the incident, police investigators said.The people who could be indicted in Ramos' case are Austin police officer Mitchell Pieper, who hit Ramos with a beanbag round, and officer Christopher Taylor, who fired the fatal shot that killed Ramos.

Garza will oversee the cases of three indicted officials: Former Austin police officer Nathaniel Stallings, who investigators accused in 2018 of using excessive force against a woman; Austin officer Lando Hall, who was indicted this month on seven counts of misuse of official information; andformer Austin fire Lt. Marcus Reed, who will be retried on charges of sexual assault and official oppression after a Travis County jury was unable to reach a verdict in 2019.

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Grand jury to hear cases of officers involved in the deaths of Ramos, Ambler - Austin American-Statesman