The family of the woman, Sandra Bland, said earlier on Thursday the charge against Trooper Brian Encinia was not enough and he should be indicted for assault, battery and false arrest.
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A grand jury Waller County Sheriff’s Office and jail staff of any wrongdoing in Bland’s death, which was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner.
A Texas grand jury has indicted a state trooper there for lying about his traffic stop of Sandra Bland, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The charge the trooper faces is a Class A misdemeanor. A perjury charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $ 4,000 fine – Sandra Bland is never going home again.
Bland was pulled over on July 10 by Encinia for failing to signal a lane change in Prairie View, about 50 miles northwest of Houston. The trooper asked her to put out her cigarette, but she said it was her right to smoke within her own auto. Afterwards, she was taken to Waller County jail where, unable to post bail, she sat for three days until she was found dead.
According to the indictment, Encinia reportedly lied when he claimed in an affidavit that Bland was combative and non-cooperative. “I mean, it was for officer safety”.
“No expert that I’ve ever had ever went exactly by his report”, Eakin said. Trooper Brian Encinia said Bland was “combative and uncooperative” after he pulled her vehicle over and ordered her out.
To date, Encinia, 30, has been the only person involved in Bland’s death to be charged. In the video, Encinia can be seen opening Bland’s driver’s side door and reaching in for her. She refuses to come out and the trooper threatens to use a Taser on her.
Bland’s arrest and death while in police custody prompted outrage over the summer, including from the national Black Lives Matter movement.
Shawn McDonald, a special prosecutor from Houston, says grand jurors are done investigating the case.
DPS has fired more than two dozen troopers since 2013.
The family is awaiting the release of documents from the investigation into the conduct of Encinia and Waller County officials, who they hope can be deposed in court to unravel the events surrounding Bland’s death.
“His lies were captured on camera and available in six days”, Lambert told the Tribune.
Geneva Reed-Veal, left, and Sharon Cooper, center, the mother and sister of Sandra Bland, listen to attorney Larry Rogers Jr., right, explain concerns about the Texas grand jury’s role in the death of Naperville resident Sandra Bland, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015 in Chicago.
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“They feel toyed with”, Lambert said.
