Austin (KXAN) — The second day of the manslaughter trial for two former Williamson County Sheriff's Deputies picked up Tuesday morning. The state and defense examined law enforcement witnesses before a sudden delay just an hour into the trial.
Former deputies James Johnson and Zach Camden are charged with manslaughter for the death of Javier Ambler, Jr. They're accused of acting recklessly while arresting Ambler after a pursuit with police ended in a crash. The pair allegedly used a taser on Ambler despite him telling officers he had a heart condition.
KXAN's Mercedez Hernandez is following day two of the trial on Tuesday. Follow her updates below:
During opening statements Monday, the state claimed the former officers used excessive force while arresting Ambler and exposed him to amounts of electricity that exceeded typical safety standards.
"They gave Mr. Ambler two seconds to comply and two minutes to die," Asst. District Attorney Holly Taylor said.
The defense said Ambler's already poor health combined with stress from resisting police were too much for his body to handle, resulting in death. They also said Ambler was observed throwing objects out of his car during the chase with police, and that he was a "known drug dealer" with a history of running from police.
"The danger posed by someone willing to put themselves and everybody else in danger to get away. That justifies a quick response," Ken Ervin, one of the attorneys representing Johnson and Camden said.
The second day of the trial started with the defense continuing to cross-examine witness APD Sgt. Robert Gilbert. Gilbert was asked about standard practices that exist with law enforcement, especially when reporting oversight issues.
After Gilbert Stepped down, Ervin asked Judge Karen Sage to approach. Minutes before, his co-counsel Doug O'Connell had walked out of the courtroom.
Soon after, members of the defense counsel's staff ran out of the courtroom. Chatter among some in the crowd indicated there was some type of medical emergency.
Sage put the court into a recess a just 30 minutes after court began.
Out in the hallway, KXAN team members reported seeing at least one Austin Fire EMT walking to a back room where other members of the defense counsel stood.
Court resumed around 10:30 a.m. without O'Connell and the state started it's examination of APD Sgt. Billy Sparks.
Sparks was on APD's Special Investigations Unit at the time of Ambler's death, collected the tasers before they were admitted into evidence, and helped the jury understand taser data from the night Ambler died.
According to that data, Sparks said the taser used on Ambler was deployed twice for about five seconds each.
