The Murder of Sandra Bland?

The Murder of Sandra Bland?

Sandra Annette Bland was a 28-year-old African-American woman who was found hanged in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on July 13, 2015, three days after a minor traffic violation that escalated.

Her death, was ruled a suicide.

 There were doubts surrounding the cause of death, and alleged racial violence against her.

BEFORE

She was born February 7, 1987 in Naperville, Illinois.

She attended Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois, then Prairie View A&M University outside Hempstead in Waller County, Texas, where she was a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. 

She graduated in 2009 with a degree in agriculture.

 At Prairie View, she was recruited as a summer counselor for three years, played in the marching band, and volunteered for a senior citizens advocacy group.

She returned to Illinois in 2009. 

She worked in administration for Cook's, a food-service equipment supplier.

She had been due to start a temporary job on August 3, 2015, with Prairie View as a summer program associate.

In January 2015, she began posting videos  police brutality against blacks.

 In one post she wrote,

"In the news that we've seen as of late, you could stand there, surrender to the cops, and still be killed."

 She was a civil rights activist in Chicago, and a part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

 She had at least ten previous encounters with police in Illinois and Texas.

She owed $7,579 in fines.

THE STOP

Encinia stopped Sandra on the afternoon of July 10, 2015, on University Drive in Prairie View, Texas.

Supposedly she had failed to signal a lane change.

To me, i don't know if the dash cam video really shows that, but i am no expert.

The interaction starts out simple enough.

He pulls her over.

Then he gets out from the vehicle and approaches the passenger side.

He tells her why he pulled her over and asks for her license and registration.

He says he will be back in a few minutes.

Several minutes later the officer comes back to the vehicle, this time on the driver's side.

He asks her what is wrong.

She tells him basically that she is annoyed.

She claims she was just getting out of his way. 

The officer becomes slightly aggitated at her attitude.

He then asks her to put out her cigarette.

She asks him why.

This makes him more upset.

He tells her to get out of the car.

This agitates her.

She refuses. 

He tries repeatedly to pull her out.

He begins yelling at her to get out or he will "light her up."

She says "woah" and gets out of the car.

To me at this point, it is both their faults about this situation getting out of control.

At first i think the officer slightly over reacts.

Then she lets her frustration out verbally.

Then everything goes wrong.

They pretty much go off camera.

What little bit is visible, he keeps making her stand different places and chances his mind what he wants her to do.

Then he gets mad at her for no reason.

Then she starts to freak out.

She cries and screams.

She possibly kicks or hits him at one point "allegedly".

She is then slammed to the ground, face first.

One of the officers is on top of her, her head pressed into the ground.

The officer's knees in her back.

She says she can't hear anything and she is epileptic.

And her arm might be broken.

Officer Encinia yells "Good!"

AND THEN

DPS stated that Sandra was arrested because she kicked Encinia.

 She was charged with assaulting a public servant.

Her bail was set at $5,000.

Sometime she made a call to a friend while she was in jail.

Her friend said she was upbeat despite the arrest: 

"It just makes no sense. 

Sandy was a soldier; she wasn't fazed about it."

THE EVENING OF....

Police stated that at 6:30 a.m. on July 13, Sandra refused breakfast.

A half-hour later told a jailer "I'm fine."

According to Captain Brian Cantrell, about an hour after stating that she was fine, Sandra asked via intercom how to make a phone call.

 Cantrell stated that Sandra was informed she could use the phone in her cell with a PIN.

 He also stated there was no record Sandra made any call.

Police stated that at 9:00 a.m., Sandra was found "in a semi-standing position" hanging in her cell.

NEXT

The next day, after noon, police issued a statement that Sandra had been found dead in her cell, and it appeared that she hung herself.

On July 20, authorities released video from a motion-activated camera in the hallway outside Sandra's cell.

Some of the video was later proven to have been edited.

Also there is a guy being suspicious and trying to hide and throw something away without anyone watching.

 The video shows no movement in and out of the cell from 7:34 to 9:07 a.m..

 She is discovered by a female officer after that time, which led to resuscitation procedures being performed on Sandra's body.

AUTOPSY AND SUCH

Cause of death was asphyxiation, and classified as a suicide.

Police stated that Sandra had used a plastic garbage bag to hang herself.

In pictures of the crime scene, there is still a garabage bag in her garbage, so where did the bag that she supposedly hung herself with come from?

 The autopsy report showed she had multiple abrasions on the right side of her back, slight abrasions on her wrists, and 25 to 30 healing, parallel cuts on her left forearm that predated her arrest.

So that probably happened with her scuffle durring the traffic stop.

An initial toxicology report found "a remarkably high concentration" of THC for someone who had been in jail for three days.

This lead to speculation that Sandra may have had access to marijuana while in jail. 

Waller County assistant district attorney, Warren Diepraam said that it was more likely that Sandra had ingested a very large amount of marijuana prior to her arrest. 

A toxicologist for the Tarrant County medical examiner's office agreed, suggesting she "either had access to the drug in jail or she was a consistent user of the drug and her body had accumulated THC to the point that it was slowly releasing it over time." 

However he added: "I have never seen a report in the literature or from any other source of residual THC that high three days after someone stops using the drug."

FUNERAL AND AFTER

Sandra Bland's funeral was held on July 22 at DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle, Illinois.

Family and friends called for an independent autopsy.

 They didn't think she would kill herself.

Her family said that she was upbeat about the job she was about to begin for Prairie View A&M.

WAS THE POLICE AT FAULT?

The FBI and DPS announced on July 16 that they had launched an investigation into Sandra's death. 

After authorities reviewed the dash cam footage, Encinia was placed on administrative leave for failing to follow proper traffic stop procedures.

 Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith, who runs the jail in which Bland died, has been placed in charge of Waller County's investigation into her death.

 Smith was suspended and fired from his previous post as chief of police of Hempstead after alleged incidents of racism and brutality.

Hmmm.....

A report from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, published on July 16, found that Waller County jail "guards violated policies by failing to do timely checks on inmates," which should be hourly.

Sandra wasn't checked on for almost 2 hours.

 The report also stated that jail employees had not been adequately trained to deal with mental health problems.

The staff had not all undergone the minimum of two hours of mental health training required by the state.

On July 22, county officials produced intake forms that they say indicate Sandra had attempted suicide in her past.

Yet, they didn't check her like they were supposed to and they didn't remove everything from her cell she could harm herself with.

 One questionnaire states Sandra took pills in 2015 after having a miscarriage.

Another form filed by a different jail employee says Bland attempted suicide earlier, in 2014. 

One form indicates Bland had contemplated suicide within the past year, while another says she did not.

Very confusing...

And there is Sandra's signatures, that don't match on all the forms.

A white male prisoner hanged himself with a bedsheet in 2012 in the same jail.

CURIOUS

In March 2016, documents obtained from the forensic lab that performed Sandra's autopsy suggested that the time of death was not the same as was originally reported by official investigations.

This could raise questions about the validity of the original investigation.

A report by the Harris County forensic investigator contradicted the official report of the Waller County Sheriff's Department.

 The details of the condition of the body differed.

 In addition, the documents stating the time guards last observed Sandra alive in her cell did not agree with the security video footage from the jail where she was detained.

There was a discrepancy of an hour. 

Brandon Wood, director of the Texas Commissioner on Jail Standards said that the failure to observe inmates hourly as required by standards "could be criminal in nature." 

An attorney for the Sandra family said that it might be just a clerical error, or might be something "more nefarious."

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED

In December 2015, a county grand jury declined to issue an indictment in connection to Sandra's death.

 It was stated that "the case is still open", and that the grand jury would meet again in January 2016 to discuss other aspects.

Reconvening the following month, the grand jury indicted Encinia for perjury, a Class A misdemeanor with a possible penalty of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. 

The charge was because of his statement in an affidavit that his reason for removing Bland from her car was "to further conduct a safe traffic investigation". 

The grand jury found that statement to be false.

Hours after the indictment was announced, DPS said they had begun the process to terminate Encinia's employment as a state trooper.

 After an arrest warrant was issued, he surrendered at the Waller County Jail and was released after posting a $2,500 bond. 

His attorney said that he would appeal his termination.

 Sandra's family called for more serious criminal charges including battery and false arrest.

 On June 28, 2017, a judge granted a motion by prosecutors to dismiss the perjury charge against Encinia.

 In return, Encinia agreed that he would "never seek, accept or engage in employment in any capacity with law enforcement". 

He also agreed not to seek expungement of the perjury charge.

WRONGFUL DEATH

Sandra's family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit.

 A jury trial in that case was scheduled for January 2017. 

The family sought unspecified damages from DPS, Encinia, Waller County, and two jailers.

 In September 2016, Sandra's family settled the lawsuit for $1.9 million, according to her mother. 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The arresting officer tells Sandra Bland to get out of her car after she declines to put out her cigarette. 

Is that legal?

Yep.

The officer can tell the driver to get out of the car. 

Whether the officer had a legitimate concern for his safety in that moment based on the fact that Sandra was smoking a cigarette while answering his questions is another story.

It just seemed he wanted to punish her for her being perturbed and not wanting to put out her cigarette.

If an officer looks into a car and sees the driver reaching for something or sees maybe a gun or something that could be used as a weapon sticking out of somewhere that would be why an officer has justification to ask a driver to step out of a car. 

Or maybe if they feel like the person is about to drive away, or trying to escape. 

In the video there is no mention that Sandra is suspected of having any kind of weapon or reaching for anything.

Plus, the car isn't even running.

She was calm, she was in her car. She was definitely irritated. 

He asked her why she was irritated. 

She gave him an honest answer. 

He should've gave her a ticket and walked away.

Can Sandra legally refuse to get out of the car?

No.

If you are told to get out of the car, you have to get out.

She said, “Why do I have to get out of my car?” 

She was entitled to ask a question. 

It was his right to answer or not.

He could have simply told her that he was afraid that she might have a weapon or something.

Instead, he decided to scream at her and escalate the situation.

Was the officer allowed to pull his taser on her and threaten her with the words “I’m going to light you up?”

Depends on the department's policy.

Not all are created equal.

The best practices of law enforcement is to use the least amount of force necessary in a situation. 

At the time he could see all of her body; no part of her was making any contact with any part of his body.

 She was verbally questioning his behavior, but she wasn’t threatening him verbally or physically in any way. 

The car wasn’t preparing to leave, there was no indication the car was moving. 

It seems he was just being punitive.

The first thing and officer  should do is try verbal communication. 

The next step is to try something involving using the officer's hands.

 Tasers are supposed to be a last resort, and only a substitute for lethal force. 

Clearly in that situation he was threatening to use it to punish her.

There appears there was absolutely no justification for him to threaten to “light her up” to get her to comply with an order. 

She voluntarily got out of the car.

When Sandra asks him 14 times what she’s being arrested for, is he supposed to tell her?

Nope.

He’s not required by law to answer.

It's generally understood best practice of law enforcement, especially when there’s no dangerous circumstances. 

Obviously, the best practice is to give the person information.

I don’t understand how the arresting officer can tell Sandra she is going to jail for resisting arrest. 

How can you be arrested for resisting arrest?

There has to be a lawful arrest in order to be resisting it. 

The Supreme Court has decided that you can be arrested for a traffic violation, and that it’s entirely up to the officer’s discretion whether they’re going to give you a ticket or arrest you. 

The moment she failed to use her turn signal, he had probable cause to arrest her. 

Are the police allowed to search her car?

Yup.

When she’s under arrest they can search the immediate area around her. 

And in this case they were impounding the car because she isn’t going to drive anywhere, so they’re allowed to search it before impounding it.

Is Sandra, as far as you can tell, being arrested or being detained? 

What are the differences between the two?

There is a point when he is telling her to get out of the car.

She asks why she is being told to get out of the car if she is not under arrest.

He tells her she is under arrest.

 She then asks, "For what? For failure to use a turn signal?"

She was justifiably frustrated.

He was clearly exercising his discretion in a discriminatory manner.

Being detained is being detained for investigation for a crime, and being arrested is being taken into custody. 

In a traffic stop there is a gray moment where the officer has probable cause to arrest you for a traffic violation.

You're being detained for further investigation for whether you have warrants, whether your license is valid, whether you are driving with insurance and if the investigation for those things turns up clean then usually officers exercise their discretion to issue you a ticket.

The arresting officer is heard speaking off-camera to someone. 

He is trying to figure out what to charge her with. 

Is this typical? 

To try and figure out what to charge a suspect with?

Yes... ish.

You have to have reasonable suspicion and probable cause.

Afterwards yes, people do sit around and figure out what official charges to bring.

At the very end of the video the arresting officer tells Sanda she is under arrest. 

Was she not under arrest before when he told her she was going to jail?

As soon as she told her she was going to jail and had cuffs on her, she was under arrest. 

Miranda rights: I didn’t hear the officer read them to her. 

Is he required to?

Nope.

He is only required to read them to her after she is under arrest and if he is interrogating her.

Off-camera, Sandra is heard saying her head was slammed against the pavement, but we can’t see it.

 What do you make of that?

She said she can’t hear, she can’t feel her arm, he slammed her head on the pavement and she has epilepsy.

They should have called medical attention for her.

Could this have all been avoided?

How?

Yup.

Especially since the incident escalated after he ran her license and registration. 

The incident should have ended in a warning or citation. 

He asked her why she was irritated and she told him. 

He shouldn’t have asked that question if he didn’t want an honest answer. And once he got the honest answer he should have let it go. 

He escalated by asking her to put out her cigarette. 

It’s not illegal to smoke in your own car. 

And it’s not illegal to smoke during a police encounter.

THE ARRESTING OFFICER

Brian Encinia was 30 years old at the time of the incident.

 He was listed in Texas voter records as Hispanic.

 He graduated from Texas A&M University in 2008 with a degree in agricultural leadership and development. 

From 2008 to 2014, he held a position with Blue Bell Creameries as an ingredient-processing supervisor. 

Prior to his employment as a state trooper in 2014, he served as a volunteer firefighter with the Brenham fire department for four years.

What do you think happened?

Was it murder?

I think that at the very least the arresting officer didn't handle the traffic stop well at all.

He escalated things.

When Sandra became frustrated, he became very angry and empowered.

He had plenty of opportunities to defuse the situation before it got physical.

He was suppose to be professional.

As to what happened after she was arrested? 

I believe we are not getting the whole story.

There was some shady things going on.

They were at least careless regarding Sandra's safety.

This is the Dash Cam Video.

This video raises some interesting questions about after her death.

Fishy things seem to be going on.

This video takes a more neutral view.

It proves some interesting points.

This is what Anonymous thinks.