Texas prosecutors nearly done with Sandra Bland investigation
HOUSTON — A team of special prosecutors has nearly completed its investigation of the arrest and subsequent death of a black woman in a Texas jail, and it plans to finish presenting its evidence to a grand jury by the end of December, one of the prosecutors said Monday.
Houston attorney Darrell Jordan was among five prosecutors tapped by the Waller County district attorney to review evidence after Sandra Bland was found dead in her Waller County jail cell on July 13. The Chicago-area woman was arrested three days earlier after a routine traffic stop turned contentious and ended with the white state trooper holding Bland on the ground.
The grand jury had its first meeting on Nov. 12, but prosecutors discovered they needed more information, Jordan said. Among the information sought — but so far not found — is the identity of the person who took a second video of the arrest that was posted online. The arrest also was recorded on the state trooper’s dashcam.
“It would be helpful if we had the person who shot that video, if there were things that happened before the video recorded and after,” Jordan said.
Sen. Royce West, a Dallas Democrat who has been a vocal leader in the case, released a statement earlier Monday saying investigations were wrapping up and it would soon “be up to a grand jury to decide whether the evidence presented warrants a criminal trial.”
Bland, 28, was unable to post about $500 bond after being arrested on an assault charge. A medical examiner ruled her death a suicide.
West’s spokesman, Kelvin Bass, noted that some people initially questioned whether Bland had been killed by someone else but said West accepted the medical examiner’s findings.