TX - Sandra Bland, 28, found dead in jail cell, Waller County, 13 July 2015 #1

Why would the ME and LE release her body to her family if more testing possibly needs to be done (see below)? According to the Autopsy Report, see pg. 6 of PDF, "Specimens including blood, vitreous, urine, bile, stomach contents, liver and brain submitted to Toxicology" Something doesn't seem right about this, IMO.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/sandra-bland-autopsy-custodial-death-report



snipped:
"Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis made the disclosure in a text message to attorney Cannon Lambert, who has called the state's autopsy on the Chicago-area woman defective, Lambert said.

"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 that the attorney disclosed to Reuters."

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-sandra-bland-had-marijuana-in-her-system-family-attorney-2015-7
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snipped:
"(Waller County Judge Trey) Duhon also said in his Facebook post that reports of the first autopsy being flawed are false, and that a request was made to the family attorney to preserve Bland's body just in case more testing needs to be done."
http://www.khou.com/story/news/loca...iler-about-previous-suicide-attempt/30533701/
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BellaVita said:

BBM: Can't imagine. Maybe this officer doesn't belong in this job. IDK. Citizens are being done a disservice though because they are being led to believe they should challenge cops, IMO. The place to challenge them is in court. SB seems to have had a lot of contact with LE over the years. Beside the theft, possession charges, and 2 DUI (one dismissed), it is noted there are repeated traffic infractions. I haven't yet seen it defined what "repeated" consists of, but may have missed it. What is so hard when LE tells you to do something, just do it?

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BBM ...

When I was in driver's ed many many years ago, we were told that if we were ever stopped we should simply say, "Yes sir/ma'am, no sir/ma'am, thank you, sir/ma'am." I've been stopped twice in the 25 years since then, and that's exactly what I did both times.

But.

I'm not required by any law to do so. It's courtesy on my part and the fact that I'd prefer not to make a bad situation worse. However, if I were to get snippy with an LEO, the responsibility is still on him/her to remain professional. That may not sound fair, but it's a fact. Just like when I worked with the public, I didn't have the right to go off on people who were criminally stupid (imo) and didn't understand why there were rules and why I had to follow them. I had to maintain a calm demeanor and continue being respectful even when a customer was being verbally abusive (and this does happen, quite a lot, actually). If a regular old bank teller (restaurant worker, retail worker, customer service rep, etc.) without any special training can do that, then a well-trained law enforcement officer absolutely should be able to do that. There's simply no excuse for being so on edge that one loses his/her temper at the drop of the hat. My husband is in a related field and frequently deals with intoxicated, high, mentally ill, combative and otherwise hostile people. He does not threaten them. He calms them down. It's his job. I just cannot see anyone defending this LEO because "she started it." Yeah, she did. She wasn't behaving appropriately at all. But his response was worse because LEO ARE held to a higher standard. THEY are the ones who should remain calm and who are responsible for de-escalating a situation. He did not de-escalate but, in fact, escalated it, imo.

As for why someone just wouldn't do what an LEO says ... I can think of lots of reasons. Americans have constitutionally protected rights, and many people who are seen as "not cooperating" are simply exercising those rights. If an LEO asked to search my vehicle, I'd say no. I'm not hiding anything, and sure, it'd probably be easier for everyone if I just said yes. But the fourth amendment gives me the right to say no, and because I'm a law-abiding citizen, I feel no compunction to allow LEO to search my vehicle on a whim.

jjenny said:

It's been suggested that perhaps she had something on her and ate it in jail? Pot is not harmless. Here is an example.
Student jumped to his death from the balcony after eating one pot cookie.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ana-pot-edible-death-colorado-denver/7220685/

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I think it's unlikely - if not impossible - for her to have consumed a large quantity of drugs while in custody... She was in the prison jumpsuit pretty quick iirc and it would have been difficult to hide?

It doesn't seem like suspected intoxication with drugs was the reason for the LE stopping her. The paperwork (riddled with inconsistencies as it is) states she did not appear 'under the influence'.

Which begs the question...what the heck is going on with the tox results?!

And what happens to the poor woman's body now? Her family can't even bury her? [emoji17]

cinsbythesea said:

[/B]

BBM- did any of the witnesses corroborate that she kicked him? I don't remember reading if they did or didn't.

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I found a really choppy video and that could be due to the cop telling the person they had to leave. I do see the leg of SB come up but it seems to me it happens during her effort to stand up after being on the ground. I can't tell if this is the 'kicking" incident.
You can see one leg go under her stomach or chest and the other flails up. Can't tell if she makes contact with LE.

[video=youtube;IYim6pDZV0Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYim6pDZV0Y[/video]

CoolJ said:

It's almost like that can and bag are a make shift "suicide device".
Nice big thick industrial bag that twists up nicely into a rope. A bar to tie it on. And a big ole trash can to stand on and kick away once noose is snug and ready.
Seems odd for a prison cell doesn't it?

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Yes. And unless the can is bolted down, it could be used as a weapon against other inmates or jail personnel. WTH?

machiado said:

There were "missed opportunities for good policing"
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/sandra-bland-video-legal-but-not-good-policing

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This article is so so so so and more! Excellent!

jslk said:

I think it's unlikely - if not impossible - for her to have consumed a large quantity of drugs while in custody... She was in the prison jumpsuit pretty quick iirc and it would have been difficult to hide?

It doesn't seem like suspected intoxication with drugs was the reason for the LE stopping her. The paperwork (riddled with inconsistencies as it is) states she did not appear 'under the influence'.

Which begs the question...what the heck is going on with the tox results?!

And what happens to the poor woman's body now? Her family can't even bury her? [emoji17]

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So she had her mj brownies with her and no one noticed? Or did she stuff mj in her mouth and start eating it without any liquid to wash it down? Um hm. Nothing strange here

In the dashcam video you can hear audio of SB asking BE if he wants her to sit on the ground. He bellows 'NO" and a bit later you can hear whimpering and SB saying that he had smashed? her head into the ground.
Why didn't he let her sit versus throwing her to the ground? IMO

cinsbythesea said:

The cop had an attitude from the start - asking her why she was irritated etc. He knew what he was doing, he was baiting her and unfortunately she took the bait. She was annoyed to have been pulled over for what I think was a petty traffic stop - changing lanes without signalling in what looked to be a fairly traffic free road. Then he played his little cat and mouse game with her - ever increasing his own attitude - knowing full well he was getting her more irritated. Cops should be used to getting attitude- that's part of their job. It's unfortunate for them but they chose their line of work. The cop in this traffic stop was either thin-skinned and took offense to her irritation at being stopped and her responses to his baiting questions or a just plain abusive guy who shouldn't be wearing a badge. You have to give respect to get respect - he didn't respect her one iota from the the get-go. IMO.

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Yes, he is a master baiter. Probably gets off on being a master baiter

A few observations. If the lit cigarette was such an issue to the officer, why did he not ask her to put it out when he first approached the drivers side window and only "asked" her to put it out after she explained to him why she was irritated? Of course a person getting pulled over is going to be somewhat irritated, I know of no one that is pleasant and happy about getting a ticket. The officer did not tell her that she was getting a warning until after he forcefully removed her from the car and told her she was under arrest. The perfect time, and one way to calm her down, to tell her about the warning is when she said that she was upset about getting a ticket. After saying "You done?" he could have said "It isn't a ticket but just a warning". She did have every right to know why she was being asked to leave her car and he refused to tell her.

About putting her cigarette out as "asked". What year and make car does she have? Does this car have an ashtray in it? May seem like a silly question however there are cars out there that did not come standard with an ashtray. Surprise to me when I bought my PT Cruiser, used 2009, and there is no ashtray. So if stopped and told to put out my cigarette, what do I do? No place in the car to put it out. Can't toss it out the window as the officer would see that as littering at best and assault on an officer at worst.

Being forced onto the ground face first with a knee in her back......why? There were two officers there at the time. The one that stopped her had already radioed in that he had her under control before this happened. Why the need to do that to her?

TorisMom003 said:

A few observations. If the lit cigarette was such an issue to the officer, why did he not ask her to put it out when he first approached the drivers side window and only "asked" her to put it out after she explained to him why she was irritated? Of course a person getting pulled over is going to be somewhat irritated, I know of no one that is pleasant and happy about getting a ticket. The officer did not tell her that she was getting a warning until after he forcefully removed her from the car and told her she was under arrest. The perfect time, and one way to calm her down, to tell her about the warning is when she said that she was upset about getting a ticket. After saying "You done?" he could have said "It isn't a ticket but just a warning". She did have every right to know why she was being asked to leave her car and he refused to tell her.

About putting her cigarette out as "asked". What year and make car does she have? Does this car have an ashtray in it? May seem like a silly question however there are cars out there that did not come standard with an ashtray. Surprise to me when I bought my PT Cruiser, used 2009, and there is no ashtray. So if stopped and told to put out my cigarette, what do I do? No place in the car to put it out. Can't toss it out the window as the officer would see that as littering at best and assault on an officer at worst.

Being forced onto the ground face first with a knee in her back......why? There were two officers there at the time. The one that stopped her had already radioed in that he had her under control before this happened. Why the need to do that to her?

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2001 Honda- no ash tray when I got it new in 2001. No lighter either

Smarty Jones said:

Yes. And unless the can is bolted down, it could be used as a weapon against other inmates or jail personnel. WTH?

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I can't remember where I saw a photo of her cell with a bag of chips and some cups and a small plastic bag which looked to me to contain a whitish toothbrush and a blue thing that looked like a plastic throw-away razor. Was she provided a razor when she had obvious cut marks on her arm and/or wrist? The jailers were obligated to see to her welfare while she was in custody. JMO

arkansasmimi said:

MAYA SCHENWAR: Right. She spent three days in the jail, injured. Clearly, police had severely injured her. We don’t know the very specifics of that, but we know she was slammed to the ground—the video shows she was severely injured—and then left in this jail cell. And I think that definitely highlights something about our county jail system, that people who are still innocent—they haven’t been proven guilty of anything—are left, you know, until they can post bail, which was actually going to happen on Monday. Sandra’s friends were about to post her bail. :thinking: http://www.democracynow.org/2015/7/17/outrage_grows_after_mysterious_death_of

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She was NOT 'severely injured. ' She had spoken to a health counselor during intake and did not complain of any pain or injuries. In the phone message she left, she did not speak of any 'severe injuries.'

Tried to post the link..came out mishmash

Her funeral was today in Illinois

katydid23 said:

She was NOT 'severely injured. ' She had spoken to a health counselor during intake and did not complain of any pain or injuries. In the phone message she left, she did not speak of any 'severe injuries.'

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I never have been beat up or had a hand on me. How dare anyone inflict injury on her? She did not signal. It is like an Onion article

This all went downhill when the former officer uttered the words "you done?"
Uhmmm hello D-Head officer, YOU asked her if she was ok, and that she looked irritated. She answered you. She complied. But you didn't like her answer, so YOU decided to be a D-Head. Then when she asked why she had to put out her cig, YOU decided that was enough reason to detain her.
Power tripping D-Head is what this clown is, and is what he will be remembered as. JMO

KaaBoom said:

Would you believe it if a Police Chief told it to you himself?

[video=youtube;InamTOpE-bk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InamTOpE-bk[/video]

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The Chief is right. Everyone is a possible enemy when you are a cop. You do not know when it will happen, if ever. But there are times when a simple traffic stop turns into a physical attack. A cop cannot assume that it will not happen. When a cop walks up to a stopped car he is very vulnerable. A lot of cops are shot at that moment. So he does have to look at the driver as someone who might want to kill him. That is the way it is.

Of course, once he begins to interact, he can determine the demeanor of the driver/occupants and he can see if they are aggressive or threatening or not. That is why it is important for those that are stopped to be conciliatory and non-hostile.

Please keep in mind that a driver has these kinds of interactions with cops a few times, but the cop goes through this thousands of times. So he has to be in control, be attentive, and wary. It is the cops that let their guard down that die.

katydid23 said:

She was NOT 'severely injured. ' She had spoken to a health counselor during intake and did not complain of any pain or injuries. In the phone message she left, she did not speak of any 'severe injuries.'

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...and we all know how observant the intake "health counselor" was, per documents. JMO

cady said:

Yes. That is a possibility, but at intake there is no indication that she was believed to be high or under the influence. ??? Wouldn't consuming a wad of pot make her act and look really high? And wouldn't an observer smell it, either on her breath, if ingested, or her clothing, if it was smoked? Puzzling. How was her Tox level so high after 3 days in jail? JMO

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BBM Not necessarily. Many people buy 'ingestibles' these days. Especially for traveling. If she had a 'loaded brownie' or some 'wax', she may have eaten it quickly while he was writing her up. It would not take effect for an hour or so. And there would be no smell no smoke, to give it away.

katydid23 said:

The Chief is right. Everyone is a possible enemy when you are a cop. You do not know when it will happen, if ever. But there are times when a simple traffic stop turns into a physical attack. A cop cannot assume that it will not happen. When a cop walks up to a stopped car he is very vulnerable. A lot of cops are shot at that moment. So he does have to look at the driver as someone who might want to kill him. That is the way it is.

Of course, once he begins to interact, he can determine the demeanor of the driver/occupants and he can see if they are aggressive or threatening or not. That is why it is important for those that are stopped to be conciliatory and non-hostile.

Please keep in mind that a driver has these kinds of interactions with cops a few times, but the cop goes through this thousands of times. So he has to be in control, be attentive, and wary. It is the cops that let their guard down that die.

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And some of us look at the police as a possible enemy. They earned it by their abusive behavior. I have several stories. I have a friend who was maaried to two different LE and a son who is LE.

Not impressed with the stories. The abuse ofpower. Did I mention how my friend used to have a gun held to her head by first LE hubby? Second hubby quit as it was not for him. Son is a power tripper