No Indictment in Jail Death of Sandra Bland, Arrest Charges Not Decided

Bland’s family sued Waller County for negligence in her death, but county attorneys said jail officials weren’t responsible.

Houston Chronicle reporter Sinjin Smith has been reporting on Bland’s case.

Bland’s family has filed a civil suit in an attempt to force the county and individuals involved to take responsibility for their role in her death.

A USA grand jury says it will not indict anyone in connection with the mysterious death of an African American in a Texas jail cell in July.

Special prosecutors aren’t saying what other potential indictments could still be on the table, nor releasing any details of what happened in the grand jury room. Video has since emerged of Bland arguing with Officer Brian Encinia over her alleged failure to signal she was changing lanes.

Bland was taken to the county jail and failed to raise the $500 needed for bail.

Bland, an African American female, was found hanging in a jail cell by a plastic bag on Monday, July 13, 2015.

“We are not going to allow what they have done in a limited, secret capacity to prevent us from doing what we need to do to get answers for the family”, Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert told CNN affiliate KPRC-TV in Houston.

“We’re all upset. We’re upset, and we’re disappointed, and that’s what we feel collectively as a family”.

On Monday, Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, said she wanted to see files from the investigation.

Phil Velasquez/AP Geneva Reed-Veal, left, Sharon Cooper, center, and Larry Rogers Jr., right, said they have concerns about the grand jury proceedings that did not reveal any of the evidence they contemplated.

Bland’s family says that the grand jury process brought little clarity to the circumstances of Bland’s death. When she was jailed, Bland had indicated on her intake form that she had recently attempted suicide but still was not placed on suicide watch. County officials said they themselves received death threats.

No mention has been made by the family about Sandra Bland’s personal responsibility in disobeying an order from a police officer and her alleged assault of the trooper.

“Grand jurors considered evidence collected by a team of five special prosecutors named by the county’s district attorney, Elton Mathis”.

But Jordan said the case is not over.

The grand jury deliberated for eight hours Monday and will reconvene in January to consider other indictments.

The Bland family held a news conference in Chicago regarding the grand jury’s move to not indict, and challenged how the case is being investigated by officials in Texas. State lawyers have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The 28-year-old Chicago-area woman died in her Waller County jail cell in what the medical examiner determined was a suicide.