Attorney Panel to Assist DA in Sandra Bland Investigation
HEMPSTEAD , Texas, July 28 (UPI) — A committee of outside attorneys will assist the Texas district attorney investigating the death of Sandra Bland, the woman found dead in a Texas jail cell days after a controversial traffic stop.
Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said the panel of lawyers will help his office make key decisions in the case, which could go to a grand jury in weeks. He did not give specifics about how the committee would work.
Mathis previously said his office will look at the original arrest to determine if the trooper’s actions were appropriate and examine Bland’s death in her cell.
Monday, Mathis also released an initial toxicology report with findings that show Bland, 28, had marijuana in her system at the time of her death. Last week, the results of her autopsy showed there was no evidence of violent homicide.
Bland was found hanging in her jail cell on July 13 with a plastic trash bag around her neck. She had been arrested three days earlier after being stopped for failure to signal a lane change and becoming combative, police said. Dashboard video footage from Trooper Brian Encinia’s patrol car shows the interaction between the two, although the moment when Encinia says Bland kicked him is not visible.
Bland’s family insists she did not commit suicide. Family members said they will seek outside experts for further testing.
