Sandra Bland jail death: Jury rules against indictments

The grand jury reached the decision that no felony crime was committed by the sheriff’s office or jailers after a closed-door hearing.

Bland, 28, was driving from her home in Chicago to her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, to take a new job in the university student services department when she was pulled over in Hempsted, northwest of Houston, by Trooper Brian Encina on a lane change violation.

Bland’s mother, Geneva Rand-Veal, told KPRC 2 News, “Right now, the biggest problem for me is the entire process”.

Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland, speaks to the media outside the federal courthouse in Houston last week.

Jordan, citing the confidentiality of the grand jury system, would not say what those charges could be. Video recorded outside of the cell she was in showed no movement in the hallway hours before she was found hanging.

He noted the grand jury’s decision only considered those who may have directly contributed to Bland’s death and therefore did not determine whether or not Encinia will face charges.

“We hope we will now receive all the information we’ve requested without limitation so we can proceed with our own investigation of what happened to Sandy Bland”, Rogers said.

Officials in Waller County, Texas, have said she hanged herself with a plastic bag. He said he was disappointed, but not surprised, there would be no criminal charges in Bland’s death.

Looney also confirmed that “The only thing that was done yesterday is that the grand jury has declined to indict the sheriff or the sheriff’s staff”. “There could be indictments”, said Darrell Jordan, one of the five special prosecutors handling the Bland case.

Bland family attorneys say jailers should have checked on her more frequently and that the county should have performed a mental evaluation once she disclosed she had tried to kill herself before. What started as normal conversation gets testy after Encinia asks her to put out her cigarette and Bland refuses…

AP Sandra Bland was found dead in a jail cell in Waller County on July 12.

The family’s lawyers echoed the family’s concerns and said they have little faith in proceedings over evidence that isn’t released to the public.

The special prosecutor told Breitbart Texas that the grand jury in Waller County will reconvene in January.

Activists said the incident, which happened is another example of police brutality toward minorities following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri which sparked widespread protests.

Her case attracted widespread attention amid national discussions about excessive force and the role of race in policing.

He and DPS filed a motion in September in response to the family’s suit, denying that they were “deliberately indifferent” to any serious harm to Bland.

The family have denied that she was suicidal and have accused the jail of being “reckless” in disregarding her safety and failing to keep her free from harm.

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