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A grand jury has decided not to indict anyone in the case of Sandra Bland, whose death in police custody raised questions of excessive force and the role of race.
Sandra Bland was pulled over on 10 July by a Texas state trooper after allegedly making an improper lane change.
Dash-cam footage showed the traffic stop quickly becoming confrontational and the 28-year-old was arrested for assault.
Sandra Bland was taken handcuffed to the county jail in Hempstead, where she remained when she was unable to raise $500 for bail.
She was discovered dead in her jail cell three days later.
Her family has questioned the medical examiner’s finding that she killed herself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuPvDMN73hQ
Sandra Bland’s arrest and death came amid heightened tensions surrounding the police and their dealings with black suspects after a series of high profile cases where suspects were killed by officers or died while in custody.
Cannon Lambert, a lawyer for her family, said on Monday the decision was consistent with an attempt to cover up the events following her arrest.
He said: “They continue to do things we are disappointed in.”
Sandra Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, said she wants to see all the evidence and is frustrated by delays in the case.
In the days after her death, authorities also released video from the jail after claims that the Chicago-area woman was dead before she arrived at the jail or was killed while in custody.
Prosecutor Darrell Jordan said the Waller County grand jury did not reach a decision on whether the trooper, Brian Encinia, who arrested Bland should face charges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQbWio2Se0k
He said: “After presenting all the evidence as it relates to the death of Sandra Bland, the grand jury did not return an indictment.
“The grand jury also considered things that occurred at the jail and did not return an indictment.”
The jury will return in January to consider that issue.
Mrs Reed-Veal filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court in Houston against the trooper, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Waller County and two jail employees. That case is set to be heard in January 2017.
Lawyers for the family have argued jailers should have checked on Bland more frequently and that mental health evaluations should have been performed after she disclosed she had a history of attempting suicide.
Agencies/Canadajournal
