The family of Sandra Bland has settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $1.9 million, according to the family’s attorney.
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The settlement includes compensation for Bland’s death in custody as well as several changes to jail procedures in Waller County, Texas…
Bland’s death sparked national controversy and outrage, which grew as authorities maintained she killed herself, citing evidence of depression, as those closest to Bland insisted she would not have killed herself and was excited about starting a new job.
The arresting officer stated that Bland was “combative and uncooperative”.
” ‘The Waller County Judge pledges to actively seek passage of state legislation providing for more funding for jail intake, booking, screening training and other jail support like telemedicine access for Texas county jails AND HE SUPPORTS HAVING ANY RESULTING LEGISLATION NAMED IN SANDRA BLAND’S HONOR!'”
Dashcam video shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland “I will light you up” after she refused to get out of her vehicle. Encinia, however, was indicted on a perjury charge in January, a decision that Bland’s mother said was “not justice”. A dashcam video showed him shouting at Bland and failing to answer her when she asked repeatedly why she was being arrested. She was sent to Waller County Jail and held on $5,000 bail. For example, family lawyer Cannon Lambert told CBS News that the Waller County Jail will now provide a round-the-clock, on-duty nurse and emergency technician for all shifts moving forward. Reed-Veal has been traveling across the country to bring attention to police brutality against blacks since her daughter’s death. Encinia has been on desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell in July.
Watch Bland’s mother react to the settlement. “The settlement was an opportunity for the family to make changes that we think are really important and are going to save lives in the future so this won’t happen again”. “You just slammed me, knocked my head in the ground”.
Bland was arrested and booked into the Waller County Jail, where she was found hanging in her cell three days later. A grand jury decided that neither sheriff’s officials nor jailers committed a crime in the treatment of Bland, a black woman who died in a Texas county jail last summer. The Department of Public Safety said it would fire Encinia.
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July 22: A Bland family attorney says an ex-guard said in a deposition he falsified log entries by noting he checked on Bland in the hour before she was found dead in her cell.
