November 10 is the date officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) are supposed to relinquish documents related to the arrest and death of Sandra Bland in the Waller County Jail on July 13, 2015. Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland’s mother, filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in August and her lawyers are seeking almost everything that involves Bland and/or can shed light on what happened to her during her incarceration.
DPS, State Trooper Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Bland, as well as Waller County and two staff members from the Waller County jail are all named in the suit.
Enicinia arrested Bland after stopping her for an illegal lane change. After Bland was found deceased in the Waller County jail, officials there said 28-year-old Bland had committed suicide. The video of Bland’s arrest—which showed an unnecessarily aggressive Encinia taking Bland out of the view of his squad car’s dash camera—appeared to have been doctored according to numerous observers and at least one person who could be considered an expert in the area. Bland’s family was adamant that foul play was involved.
The full video of Encinia’s stop and arrest of Bland can be viewed here. At around the 1:57 mark he pulls behind Bland’s car as it moves over into the right lane; the audio on the dash cam activates at around the 2:04 mark. After Bland is arrested and a female officer has arrived on the scene, Encinia can be heard, off camera, saying to someone who is witnessing the event “you need to leave” several times, around the 14:17 mark. At the 15:18 mark, Bland can be heard saying to someone “thank you for recording, thank you.”
Encinia remains employed by the department. He was placed on administrative duty in July. Spokespersons for the department have not said when or if the results of their internal investigation of the incident will be turned over to a grand jury.
Last week Bland’s sister Sharon Cooper released an open letter calling on U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to become involved in the investigation of Bland’s death. She says—among other things—the family’s confidence in the investigation has been shaken and what they have learned about the case has come primarily from the media, not the district attorney.