Cincinnati campus officer shoots and kills unarmed black male

[GMDino]

Report: No evidence of homicide in death of Sandra Bland

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Waller-County-authorities-to-release-more-details-6401698.php

Quote:Preliminary findings from Sandra Bland's autopsy indicate she killed herself in the Waller County jail and that she had a substantial amount of marijuana in her system at the time of her death, officials said Thursday.

"At this particular time, I have not seen any evidence that indicates this was a homicide," said Warren Diepraam, a Waller County assistant district attorney. "I can say she tested positive for marijuana."

Diepraam offered details of pathological findings into Bland's death at a news conference in Hempstead, adding that the toxicology testing is not complete. He said that findings indicate that Bland, who was found dead July 13, three days after she taken there after a traffic stop, did not die from a violent struggle. Her death has been ruled a suicide.


The findings added more details about the death of the 28-year-old Illinois native, who was stopped by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on July 10, the dash cam video of that stop raising questions about the actions of the trooper, who has since been placed on desk duty.
Other details of Bland's death were revealed in a four-page custodial death report released on Thursday by the Texas Attorney General's office. The report was filed by Sydney Joe Hester Jr. with the Waller County Department. Part of the report offers another timeline of what happened after Bland was booked into the jail.


For example, after Bland was found hanging, the report said, a lieutenant lifted her up so a jailer could loosen the plastic bag that was around her neck. The lieutenant laid Bland down and started CPR on her. Six minutes later, EMS was called and responded within four minutes. Another deputy, who was an EMT, helped with the CPR. The two continued CPR until EMS arrived and placed a heart monitor on Bland. The emergency crews said Bland was dead. CPR was stopped at 9:06 a.m.

The document, required by state law when someone dies in the custody of law enforcement, and filed with the AG's office on July 17, concludes that the criminal investigation into Bland's death has been turned over to the Texas Rangers.
At Thursday's news conference, Diepraam presented photos from the autopsy and, with PowerPoint slides on two projector screens, listed what each photo showed and, as he repeatedly noted, what they didn't.

The ligature mark on Bland's neck was a single, straight and deep line. Diepraam said a violent strangulation usually results in multiple lines on the neck. A photo showed her hyoid bone removed, sitting intact without the breaks or bruising that Diepraam said would be indicative of a struggle. Images of her hands showed no broken nails or bruising commonly seen when someone fights back, he said.

"Those are the significant findings or significant lack of findings as made by the Harris County Medical Examiner's office," Diepraam said, noting he had full faith in the quality of the people who work there and the completeness of their report.

Waller County does not have a medical examiner's office. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science conducted the autopsy on Bland and has ruled it a suicide by hanging. Bland's family has said they are waiting for results of an independent autopsy.
Diepraam also frequently noted that the absence of common indicators of a struggle do not rule out the possibility of a homicide and other evidence must still be collected.


He also showed photos of scrapes on her back near her shoulder--including a leaf caught in one healing scab, and reported that bruises and scrapes found on her wrists were consistent with someone struggling while in handcuffs. He said those might have been from the time of her arrest, but didn't yet know.

A photo of her left forearm showed approximately 30 healing cuts, whose scabbing and scarring suggests they were made two to four weeks before her death, Diepraam said. He said he did not know how they were made, but admitted that the only other times he has seen similar scarring is when someone had self inflicted them.

He and District Attorney Elton Mathis clarified that information shared earlier Thursday by County Judge Trey Duhon about marijuana being found in Bland's system was from a preliminary toxicology screen, but the quantity of the drug would not be known until the additional comprehensive screen it triggered was completed. They hoped to release the toxicology and autopsy report Friday.

Diepraam said, however, that the initial findings indicate the amount found in Bland's system was substantial.

"Because marijuana is a psychoactive drug, it affects the person's central nervous system and brain core, it's a mood amplifier, so it is relevant in our opinion to determine whether or not marijuana may have played a role in her death as well by exacerbating existing conditions," he said.
How and when Bland took the drug was another question.

"We have no idea where she may have ingested the marijuana." he said. "It's hypothetically possible it could have been smoked in the jail. The sheriff has searched the jail cell for any indication of smoking inside the jail cell and found no evidence whatsoever. He's also interviewed the inmates in the jail and who were next to Ms. Bland, they indicated they didn't smell anything unusual coming from the cell.

"It's possible that she could have ingested the marijuana during the traffic stop to avoid detection and avoid being arrested," the Diepraam continued. "It's possible that she could have smoked a large amount of marijuana immediately prior to being arrested and it could have still been in her system at the time of her death."

Mathis said he had not seen reports that Bland received the marijuana while in jail and could not say how or when she got it. He referred questions about the jail to Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith and the Texas Rangers, who are investigating there.

Earlier Thursday, Duhon said he was unaware of any reports that the arresting officer, Brian Encinia with the Texas Department of Public Safety, had taken note of any signs of drug use during the course of Bland's arrest. The state agency is still conducting its own internal review and has placed the trooper on desk duty.

According to a Reuters story, Cannon Lambert, a lawyer representing Bland's family, said Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis told him the news in a text message.

"Looking at the autopsy results and toxicology, it appears she swallowed a large quantity of marijuana or smoked it in the jail," Mathis said in a text message to Lambert according to the Reuters story.

After the district attorney's office released details from the autopsy report that is yet to be made public, the sheriff's office released its own statement, declaring that Bland had never been placed on a formal suicide watch. This comes a day after that office released intake forms that showed in one of two interviews conducted after her arrest on July 10 that she had attempted suicide in 2014 with pills after losing a baby.
Her sister, Sharon Cooper, confirmed that Bland had had a miscarriage but told a Chicago news station, "She, was down about it, yes. But I have to tell you, that was a year ago. And she made her peace with it and got past it."

Bland also told jail staffers she had epilepsy and was taking a medication called Keppra to treat the disorder. The sheriff did not answer whether Bland received her medication while in custody.

Another form completed several hours after the first survey indicated that Bland had not attempted suicide, according to the documents.
"If the answers are different at each time," the sheriff's office said in a statement Thursday about the differing responses, "this indicates the inmate changed their answer."

The statement also addressed why Bland was being held in a cell alone. Given the charges she was facing, Bland was categorized as a medium risk, according to the booking documents, and was held in a cell designated for medium- to high-risk inmates, Thursday's statement read. As the only female given that designation at the time, she was in the cell alone.

Family and friends have said that when Bland telephoned them from the jail, she complained of possible injuries, including in a call to LaVaughn Mosley on the night she was arrested and booked. According to Mosley, Bland mentioned her face was swollen from being slammed to the ground by the state trooper. In the statement Thursday, the sheriff said Bland refused EMS that was called to the scene of the traffic stop. During the stop, after the arrest had been made, however, the trooper can be heard on the dash cam video telling his sargent that Bland requested EMS come to the scene.

With so many questions still lingering, the sheriff ended his statement saying, "To maintain the integrity [of] this investigation, the Waller County Sheriff's Office is not releasing any further information, or conducting further interviews at this time."
Meanwhile, Prairie View officials named the officer who arrived as back-up for Encinia as Officer Pennie Goodie. The police department has initiated a review of her actions during the arrest, but no disciplinary actions have been taken against her, department officials said.

To me this still doesn't excuse the officer for escalating a simple traffic stop and her being in jail for three days.

I'm also curious to see how they explain a large amount of marijuana in her system three days later...or at all since they officer didn't not anything about drugs in his "arrest".

Short of that though it will be found a suicide and the officer will be free to do it again.