A Texas judge has set a 2017 trial date for the wrongful death lawsuit in the death of Sandra Bland, Huffington Post reports.
The lawsuit was filed by Bland’s family after a medical examiner ruled her death a suicide following an traffic stop arrest last summer.
Texas Officials: Sandra Bland Committed Suicide Because She Couldn’t Meet Bail
Judge David Hittner set a trial to begin on Thursday, January 23, 2017.
Bland’s family refutes the medical examiner’s cause of death and is demanding an undisclosed amount in damages from the Department of Public Safety, the state trooper involved in her arrest, and two employees of the jail where Bland was held.
Family attorney Cannon Lambert said the case needed further examination because the suicide finding wasn’t one the family could accept. “We’ve not had occasion to assess fingerprints on the ligature,” he said. “A lot of information we frankly don’t have. We’re not able to finish our own medical investigation.”
Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, said that the steps being made are all being done to bring justice in her daughter’s name.
“My daughter is gone. I have now celebrated one holiday without her,” she said. I want all of you to know Sandy was more than a hashtag. That’s what I want everybody to know. Sandra Bland was more than a hashtag. And we will continue fighting for justice for her.”