A defense attorney was given a Taser in court to “show the jury how to work” during a manslaughter trial against two police officers who Tasered a man with heart problems to death.
Zachary Camden and James Johnson, former deputies with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, were indicted in the death of Javier Ambler, 40, by a grand jury in 2021.
The former deputies are accused of using excessive force when they Tasered Ambler multiple times after a car chase in 2019 and are currently on trial for involuntary manslaughter.
On Wednesday, the defense called Ben Bloodworth, an instructor for Axon, the company that produces Tasers, as a witness.
Bloodworth staged a bizarre courtroom demonstration during which he used a Taser on defense attorney Ken Ervin. The demonstration was supposed to show the jury how the Taser worked.
A defense attorney was given a Taser in court to “show the jury how he works” during a manslaughter trial against two police officers who Tasered a man with heart problems to death.
Bloodworth staged a bizarre courtroom demonstration during which he used a Taser on defense attorney Ken Ervin. The demonstration was supposedly intended to show the jury how the Taser worked.
Former Williamson County Sheriff’s Deputy James Johnson and Zachary Camden were charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2021 and are on trial for involuntary manslaughter.
Javier Ambler was driving home from playing poker on March 28, 2019, when he failed to dim his SUV’s lights toward oncoming traffic.
During the presentation, four people stood at the front of the courtroom to act out a situation similar to the 2019 incident involving the officers and Ambler.
Bloodworth pointed the bright yellow taser at Ervin and said “taser, taser, taser” before firing the weapon.
The other two individuals grabbed Ervin as he writhed in pain after the Taser shot before he collapsed in their arms and said “ugh.”
After the Taser demonstration, Bloodworth was questioned by prosecutor Holly Taylor.
‘Did you not hear a statement: ‘I can’t breathe, I have congestive heart failure’ from Mr. Ervin, before you Tasered Mr. Ervin? -Taylor asked.
“No, ma’am,” Bloodworth replied.
“And Mr. Ervin was shot once, not twice, three or four times,” Taylor asked.
“I asked and I answered, your honor,” the defense intervened.
“I haven’t asked that specific question,” Taylor said.
“Five seconds of the cycle, yes, ma’am,” Bloodworth replied.
The defense also turned to Anthony Ramirez, the certified Taser instructor who trained Camden and Johnson.
Ramirez testified that deputies responded to the 2019 situation appropriately.
He says it’s acceptable to use a Taser after a car chase because authorities don’t know if the suspect has a gun.
Ramirez said officers are trained to use any force necessary to apply handcuffs.
After both witnesses were called to testify, the defense dismissed their case.
Closing arguments will be held Thursday and jury deliberation will begin shortly after.
In the 2021 court proceedings, attorneys Ken Ervin and Doug O’Connell also claimed that prosecutors did not invite their clients to testify and provided their own narrative about the March 2019 traffic stop.
Body camera footage showed Ambler telling officers “I can’t breathe” and that he has congestive heart failure while Tasers were fired at him four times.
Officers performed CPR on Ambler (pictured) until medical personnel later arrived and took over. He died an hour later.
‘Contrary to what the media often characterizes, Mr. Ambler was not pursued for failing to dim his headlights. He was pursued for the felony charge of evading arrest in a vehicle,’ his attorneys wrote in his statement.
Lawyers claimed that during the car chase, which allegedly lasted more than 22 minutes, Ambler had crashed into the fence of a house before his “fifth and final collision disabled his vehicle.”
“Shortly thereafter, Mr. Ambler died due to congestive heart failure, hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity, and lymphocytic myocarditis,” the attorneys said.
‘Mister. Ambler’s physical exertion in resisting the three officers necessary to handcuff him undoubtedly contributed to his medical emergency, but Mr. Johnson and Mr. Camden are neither morally nor legally responsible for his death.
The attorneys said they are seeking a trial “as soon as possible” for their clients “where we can ensure that politics, campaign promises and sensational media representations will not distort the truth of what happened.”
Officers chased the father of two for 22 minutes into downtown Austin in a police chase that was captured on camera for an episode of A&E’s Live PD.
Police body camera video of Ambler’s death shows the 400-pound man gasping for breath telling officers he wants to comply with their demands but can’t because he has congestive heart failure.
“I can’t resist,” Ambler shouts. ‘Sir, I can’t breathe… Please… Please.’
He was pronounced dead an hour later.
Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody (pictured) was charged with destroying video evidence related to the investigation.
An autopsy revealed that Ambler died in a homicide with congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease related to morbid obesity “in combination with forced restraint.”
Williamson County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs investigators determined that Johnson and Camden did not violate pursuit or use of force policies.
A complaint filed in the Western District of Texas accused former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody of encouraging officers to engage in “dangerous” police tactics for the sake of exciting television, and of rewarding officers “who did “good” uses of force.
The complaint also includes earlier claims by two former sheriff’s office employees who said leaders had rewarded them with steakhouse gift cards when they used force on the job.
‘Officers who received gift cards also received the title ‘WilCo Badass.’ “This practice encouraged officers to use force more frequently, “earn” more gift cards, be “WilCo Badass,” and appear on Live PD,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint also noted how police chases in Williamson County had increased by 54 percent in the year Live PD began partnering with the department.
And about 60 percent of those chases began because of a trivial traffic violation, such as failure to signal, expired license plates or failure to dim headlights, according to the lawsuit.