Grand jury indicts cop for perjury in Sandra Bland case

The Texas Department of Public Safety said Wednesday that it would begin the process of discharging Encinia from the department following his indictment.

Bland was arrested by Encinia last July for failing to use her turn signal.

And that was obvious to the Waller County grand jury, who “found that statement to be false”, according to special prosecutor Shawn McDonald, who apparently did not see the need to pursue charges of assault and battery or false imprisonment, even though those would also have been appropriate.

The same grand jury declined last month to indict sheriff’s officials or jailers. Special prosecutors had presented the evidence and left the choice up to the jurors, White said. The traffic stop increasingly became heated when Bland refused to put out her cigarette. The incident has garnered much attention, with supporters insisting that Bland did not kill herself and that her arrest and subsequent death highlight the racism endemic in the USA criminal justice system.

Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said in a statement that Waller County and the state should review the “systematic problems” that led to Bland’s death and look for policy solutions.

Encinia had been on paid administrative duty since Bland’s death, and is now facing a wrongful death lawsuit by Bland’s family.

Bland was taken to the Waller County Jail in Hempstead where, three days later, unable to make $500 bail, she was discovered in her cell. Bland eventually steps out of the vehicle, and Encinia orders her to the side of the road.

The charge against Brian Encinia is only a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, but it reignites the intense outrage over Bland’s death and allegations of racial bias among Texas police.

During Wednesday’s indictment, the family’s lawyer Cannon Lambert said there are still unanswered questions.

Bland started swinging her elbows at Encinia and kicked him in the right shin, so he used force to bring her to the ground and cuffed her, according to Encinia’s account. “If you don’t have public accountability, you don’t have public trust”.

Until those things happen, Cooper said, Bland’s relatives won’t have the answers they need.

Coleman acknowledged that these problems aren’t unique to DPS, but that “I’m a state legislator and they’re the state police”. Part of the work we will be doing next year is figuring out how to release someone who is not a danger on their own recognizance.