The family of Sandra Bland is demanding that a Waller County Jail be ordered to release all evidence pertaining to the 28-year-old’s July death.
According to a Texas ABC affiliate, Bland’s family filed a motion yesterday with a U.S. District Court, citing concerns that the jail might be withholding evidence and surveillance footage.
“That’s a little troubling for us,” Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert told the station, adding that the video that they’ve seen has skips in it. “We want to test whether or not there’s some rational explanation for that.”
Dash Cam Video of Sandra Bland’s Arrest Appears Edited
Attorneys for the jail refuse to turn over any additional evidence, saying that the pending criminal investigation prohibits them to do so, but Bland’s family remains skeptical.
“There’s never been a formal showing that there’s an actual criminal investigation,” Lambert said. “There have been suggestions that that’s the case, but in reality, it doesn’t appear that there ever has been an investigation.”
Bland died under mysterious circumstances following a routine traffic stop. During the stop, she was ordered out of her car, and dash cam video shows Officer Brian Encinia violently arresting her. She was taken to the county jail and found hanging by a trash bag three days later. County officials have ruled her death a suicide, though family members say that she wasn’t suicidal. Encinia remains on administrative leave.
