Waller County officials were supposed to turn over a mountain of documents and other items by Tuesday, November 10, to the lawyers for Sandra Bland’s family. Late Thursday, officials with the county asked a judge to dismiss the family’s wrongful death lawsuit.
That’s usually standard procedure: nobody wants to be sued, everybody wants a lawsuit against them dismissed. But here’s where it gets ugly: not only did Waller County officials deny any wrongdoing in Bland’s death, they blamed her family, asking why didn’t they bail the young woman out of jail when they had plenty of time to do so. Waller County says Bland committed suicide—in their jail, on their watch—because she was depressed about being in jail. The video evidence of a Texas state trooper unnecessarily and aggressively arresting Bland played no part in it whatsoever.
Well if that ain’t about a—
Of course, Bland’s family ain’t trying to hear that. They maintain that Bland, who was from Chicago, was full of life and looking forward to starting a new job in Texas within days of her arrest. Additionally, lawyers for the family stated that the move to dismiss the case was premature because they haven’t even seen the results of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation yet. Attorneys also said they have not yet had a chance to depose jail personnel who may be witnesses in the case, including Brian Encinia, the officer who unnecessarily arrested Bland.
Recently, lawyers for a woman who had been held at the jail in 2014 announced a lawsuit alleging ill-treatment. The woman says she blacked out for several hours after being arrested for speeding, and she believes she may have been drugged and sexually assaulted by jail personnel. She says the jailers took away her clothing and gave her a blanket to wear instead.
The purpose of an investigation is to expose the truth, which, obviously, is obscured. It is to uncover wrongdoing or vindicate those unjustly accused of wrongdoing. Thus far Texas officials’ own actions have been screaming guilt.