Defense and state clash on use of force expert's credibility on Day 5 of in-custody death trial
Outside the presence of the jury, the state and defense debated over the qualifications of the state's first expert witness. He's set to weigh in on the actions of two former Williamson County Sheriff's deputies the night Javier Ambler died in custody.
Austin (KXAN) — Outside the presence of the jury, the state and defense debated over the qualifications of the state's first expert witness. He's set to weigh in on the actions of two former Williamson County Sheriff's deputies the night Javier Ambler died in custody.
Ambler died after leading police on a 20-minute chase that ended in a crash on March 28, 2019. James Johnson and Zach Camden are accused of acting recklessly while trying to arrest Ambler by using a stun gun despite him telling the officer he had a heart condition.
Day four of the trial revealed new bodycam footage that captured Johnson and Camden's reactions minutes after Ambler became unresponsive and testimony from LivePD cameramen who were following the deputies at the time.
Just minutes into the fifth day of court, the defense moved the case to be thrown out with prejudice--this was because an old report from Williamson County surfaced mid-trial. The defense said the state had knowledge of the report and a responsibility to disclose it but failed to do so.
After a brief recess, 299th District Court Judge Karen Sage denied the motion but agreed the state should face some type of repercussions. She asked the defense to introduce ideas for sanctions on Monday.
Defense questions credibility of expert witness
Still, outside the presence of the jury, the court asked for Roger Clark, a use of force expert, to be brought in.
Clark has decades of law-enforcement experience, starting in 1965. He's claimed to have testified as an expert witness more than 100 times in Texas, lectured at prominent universities like the University of Texas, and has been hired to consult in federal cases.
Nearly two hours of debate took place before Sage allowed Clark to officially testify in front of the jury. She did rule, however, that Clark would not be permitted to talk about positional asphyxia or deputies' pursuit of Ambler.