A trial date has been set for the wrongful death case of Chicago native Sandra Bland, The Huffington Post reports.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner announced a Jan. 23, 2017 trial start date for the suit filed by Bland’s family. The 28-year-old died in a jail cell in Houston, Texas last July. The incident began when Bland was pulled over by a police officer for failure to signal. The encounter, caught on dash cam video, shows the officer forcefully handling Bland as he tries to arrest her.
Bland was found dead three days later in her Waller County jail cell. A medical examiner ruled her death a suicide, but the family believes there was foul play involved. Cannon Lambert, the Bland family’s lead attorney, said there isn’t enough evidence to prove she hung herself with a plastic garbage bag, “because his legal team hasn’t been able to examine the report of an investigation of the case by the Texas Rangers following Bland’s death,” according to HuffPo.
Bland’s mother was disheartened by the date.
The Huffington Post reports:
“I’m not OK,” Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland’s mother, said after Thursday’s hearing. “My daughter is gone. … I walked into these (courthouse) doors with continuations, dates and delays. I’m coming out of these doors with continuations, dates and delays.”
In November, lawyers for the Waller County jail officials claimed Bland killed herself because her family took too long to bail her out of jail. Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Bland, was placed on paid administrative leave. The other officers involved have not been charged.
SOURCE: The Huffington Post | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform
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Police Officer Who Fatally Shot VonDerrit Myers Arrested, Probed For Possible DUI
Wrongful Death Suit Filed By Sandra Bland’s Family Won’t See A Courtroom Until 2017 was originally published on newsone.com
