The post Sandra Bland’s Family Reaches .9 Million Settlement appeared first on 360Nobs.com.
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“This is monumental. This is not just about me”, Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland’s mother, told BuzzFeed on Thursday.
According to the family’s attorney, Cannon Lambert, the settlement also stipulates that the county jail have a nurse or emergency medical technician on duty at all times and install electronic sensors to ensure that guards are checking on detainees.
A Waller County judge also will seek passage of state legislation that will fund improvements in intakes, bookings, screenings and jail support, Lambert said.
Bland was pulled over by state trooper Brian Encinia in July 2015 for failure to signal. She was taken into custody on a charge of assaulting a public servant, but she was unable to immediately come up with the $500 bail, according to investigators. The officer involved stated that Bland had made an improper lane change and a subsequent refusal by Sandra Bland to extinguish her cigarette triggered a confrontation.
Attorney Larry Simmons, who represented Waller County in the lawsuit, maintains that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
Attorneys for Waller County said in a statement Thursday morning that “a potential settlement agreement has been reached, but is not yet final”, adding that there are still details being sorted out and that it must be approved by county officials.
Three days later, Bland committed suicide by hanging herself with a trash bag while in the Waller County Jail.
Bland’s family steadfastly denied she suffered from depression or other disorders prior to her arrest.
Any future state legislation passed to benefit must also be named in honor of Sandra Bland, her mother said.
“It’s not a tentative it’s absolute, and we are very happy about it”, Lambert said.
Demonstrators hold signs showing Sandra Bland, who was found hanged in her Texas jail cell after being taken into custody following a traffic stop, during a rally against police violence in NY in July 2015.
“I will light you up!” shouts Mr Encinia, who was later fired and charged for lying to authorities about the arrest.
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“A grand jury did not believe Encinia’s statement that he removed Bland from the vehicle she was driving so he could conduct a safer traffic investigation”, according to the network.
