Sheriff: Sandra Bland mentioned previous suicide attempt
DALLAS -- A woman whose death in a Texas jail has raised suspicions about the official conclusion that she hanged herself told a guard during the booking process that she had tried to kill herself in the past, the sheriff said Wednesday.
Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith told The Associated Press that Sandra Bland told a jailer about the previous suicide attempt sometime after her arrest on July 10.
Bland provided the information while being asked a series of questions posed to each person booked into the jail in Hempstead, about 60 miles northwest of Houston, the sheriff said. He did not provide details about the conversation.
A copy of the document obtained by CBS News, which was filled out by hand by someone else on Bland's behalf, includes the question: "Have you ever attempted suicide?"
"Yes" is marked, with 2014 listed as the date. In response to "Why?" the form shows "lost baby"; the method listed was "pills."
On a subsequent page of the document, which appears to be a typed summary of Bland's responses, the response to "Attempted suicide?" is "no." The reason for the discrepancy is unclear.
The attorney representing Bland's family, Cannon Lambert, said relatives have no evidence that she ever attempted suicide or had been treated for depression.
A second jailer also interviewed Bland, according to the sheriff. The 28-year-old from the Chicago area said she was not depressed but was upset about her arrest, which occurred following a confrontation with a white officer who had stopped her for a minor traffic violation.
Smith says both jailers who spoke with Bland, who was black, insisted that she appeared fine when being booked on a charge of assaulting a public servant.
Bland's body was found three days later in her cell. Authorities say she hanged herself using a plastic liner taken from a garbage can.
Her family has said she was not despondent and was looking forward to starting a new job at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University.
However, Bland posted a video to her Facebook page in March, saying she was suffering from "a little bit of depression as well as PTSD," or post-traumatic stress disorder. At least one friend has said she was just venting after a bad day.
In suburban Chicago, Bland's relatives held a news conference to discuss video of the arrest taken from the officer's dashcam, which shows him drawing a stun gun and threatening Bland when she refuses to follow his orders.
The roadside encounter swiftly escalated into a shouting confrontation, with the officer holding the weapon and warning Bland, "I will light you up," for not getting out of her vehicle.
The video posted online Tuesday by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows the trooper, Brian Encinia, who is white, stopping Bland for failing to signal a lane change.
After he hands her a written warning, the trooper remarks that Bland seems irritated. Bland replies that she is irritated because she had changed lanes to make way for the trooper's car.
The conversation quickly turns hostile when Encinia asks Bland to put out her cigarette and she asks why she can't smoke in her own car. Encinia then orders Bland to get out of the vehicle. She refuses, and he tells her she is under arrest.
Further refusals to get out bring a threat from the trooper to drag her out. Encinia then pulls out a stun gun and makes the threat about lighting Bland up.
When she finally steps out of the vehicle, Encinia orders her to the side of the road. There, the confrontation continues off-camera, but it is still audible. The two keep yelling at each other as the officer tries to put Bland in handcuffs and waits for other troopers to arrive.
Still off camera, Bland can be heard protesting her arrest, repeatedly using expletives. She screams that he's about to break her wrists and complains that he knocked her head into the ground.
"You see right out of the gate, this could have easily been avoided," Lambert said. "This happened because an officer was overzealous."
Bland's death comes after nearly a year of heightened national scrutiny of police and their dealings with black suspects, especially those who have been killed by officers or die in police custody.
In response to questions about gaps and overlaps in the video, authorities said the footage was not edited or manipulated.
Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said glitches occurred in the recording when it was uploaded for public viewing. He said the agency will repost the video.
Bland's death has resonated on social media, with posts questioning the official account and featuring the hashtags #JusticeForSandy and #WhatHappenedToSandyBland. Others referred to #SandySpeaks, the hashtag Bland used in monologues she posted on Facebook in which she talked about police brutality and said she had a calling from God to speak out against racism and injustice.
Encinia, who has been on the force for just over a year, has been placed on administrative leave for violating unspecified police procedures and the Department of Public Safety's courtesy policy. The agency would not address questions about whether the trooper acted appropriately by drawing his stun gun or trying to pull Bland out of the vehicle.
The Texas Rangers said last week they would investigate Bland's death. The FBI and Justice Department have also been asked to look into the case.