No indictments in Sandra Bland death

Prosecutor Darrell Johnson said the grand jury had failed to decide whether to indict the state trooper who made the original arrest and it will return in January to consider it again.

Newly released police video shows a Texas trooper threatening Sandra Bland with a Taser when he ordered her out of her vehicle during a routine traffic stop on July 10, three days before she was found dead in a county jail. He said the grand jury decided not to indict anyone, including staff at the Waller County Jail, where Bland was held. “We’re supposed to have an investigation to show us what’s happening”.

Her family is disputing how the case was handled.

State trooper Brian Encinia remains on administrative leave for what the Texas Department of Public Safety refers to as violating procedures.

Bland was then jailed, where she stayed for the final three days of her life. The family criticized the grand jury proceedings in Waller County, Texas.

Cannon Lambert, an attorney representing Bland’s family, said Monday the decision is consistent with what the family believes has so far been an attempt by authorities to cover up the events after Bland’s arrest.

The death of Bland, a black woman, came at a time of increased national scrutiny of police after a series of high-profile cases in which blacks were killed by officers or died while in custody. “And we’re at the door, knocking, willing and waiting, and waiting for the door to open for the answers that we’ve asked for regardless of what they are”.

Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal filed a federal lawsuit against the arresting officer and others connected to the case, according to local news reports. After an autopsy by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston, officials ruled her death a suicide. A judge last week set it for trial in January 2017. “We know what we’ve been listening to in the media… but we don’t have any real evidence”.