Sandra Bland's Mother Sues State Trooper, Jail Guards Over Death In Texas Cell
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of a Naperville woman who died in a Texas jail cell three days after she was arrested during a traffic stop has filed a lawsuit against the trooper who pulled her over, and two guards at the jail where she was found hanged.
Sandra Bland, 28, was arrested July 10 in Waller County, Texas, during a confrontational traffic stop about 50 miles from Houston. Authorities have said Bland hanged herself three days later, using a garbage bag in her cell at the Waller County Jail, but her family has said they do not believe she would kill herself.
On Tuesday, her mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, sued Texas state trooper Brian Encinia, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Waller County Sheriff's Office, and two screening officers at the Waller County Jail – identified in the lawsuit as Elsa Magnus and Oscar Prudente.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in federal court in Houston, accuses Encinia of assault and battery, wrongful death, and violating Bland's civil rights. The suit also accuses the Texas Department of Public Safety of liability for Encinia's actions, and accuses Magnus, Prudente, and the Waller County Sheriff's Office of wrongful death.
By filing the suit, Bland's family hopes to discover what, if anything, was done to prevent her death.
"We are three weeks out from Sandra's death, we are a week out from burying her, and we still don't know what happened to her," said her sister Sharon Cooper.
Bland's family said suicide does not make sense.
"If the facts show without a doubt that that was the case, I'll have to be prepared to deal with that, but the bottom line is she never should have been inside of a jail," Reed-Veal said.
Bland's family said she never should have been arrested in the first place. They said she complied with Encinia's orders, and denied she ever struck him.
Dashboard camera video of Bland's arrest on July 10 shows Encinia informing Bland he was giving her a warning for failing to signal a lane change, but then the encounter became heated when he asked her to put out her cigarette. The two began shouting at each other, and Encinia later arrested Bland for battery, for allegedly kicking him.
The lawsuit accuses Encinia of falsifying the allegation Bland assaulted him, "for purposes of taking her into custody." It also accuses him of wrestling Bland to the ground, slamming her head on the ground, and kneeling on her once she was down.
Encinia had been previously disciplined for "unprofessional conduct" while he was still a probationary trooper in 2014. According to the lawsuit, authorities should have known he "exhibited a pattern of escalating encounters with the public."
The suit claims Encinia's conduct ultimately led to her death.
After the arrest, Encinia was placed on desk duty. Bland's family has said he should be fired.
The suit also blames jail personnel for Bland's death. According to the lawsuit, personnel at the Waller County Jail were required to monitor Bland on a regular basis, to keep her safe from injury or death, and to evaluate the mental status of anyone in custody. The suit alleges the jail did not monitor her adequately, and failed to respond appropriately when Bland refused to eat, and "had bouts of uncontrollable crying" while in custody.
The suit also accuses Magnus and Prudente of showing a "willful, wanton, and reckless" disregard for Bland's safety, failed to keep her safe while in custody, and failed to seek adequate medical care when she was found injured in her cell. The suit claims jail personnel should have taken her to a doctor.
Bland's mother is seeking unspecified compensatory, punitive, and special damages.
