Question:

7 thoughts on “Question:”

1. I believe she hadn't posted bail yet.

   cnn.com/2015/07/21/us/texas-sandra-bland-jail-death-explain/

   "Lambert [the family's attorney] said the family was securing the 10% of Bland's $5,000 bail for her release."

2. Thanks.
   I can't believe she was locked up for so long for want of $500 on a misdemeanor(?) failure to obey charge.

3. I guess this is why (from the Chicago Tribune):

   "The original video, released Tuesday, showed an angry, escalating confrontation on July 10 between Bland and Trooper Brian T. Encinia. Bland was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a public servant, a felony charge"

   chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-sandra-bland-family-video-react-st-0723-20150723-story.html#page=1

4. Wait, there are jurisdictions with enough room in the jail to hold someone on a misdemeanor?

5. Probably somewhere… But she was arrested on a felony, from kicking the officer.

6. I forget that's a felony some places. Simple assault on a PO out here is a Class A misdemeanor.

7. Campbell, Peter, (or other) curious about your thoughts –

   Encinia seems to have pushed (see below) for the felony assault charge, ILO the lower resisting arrest charge. Never mind the potential weirdness of anyone's memory about what had occurred in a stressful situation, never mind the job performance of Encinia up to that point, the charge seems to one last chance for him to throw her a partial break, and that he didn't take it.

   Am I likely correct in that assumption, or am I being unreasonable about how much discretion he had at that point? I.e. would it have probably been Encinia's call to push for the felony, or would a shift supervisor/sergeant/whoever be driving it at that point? Or not knowable without being on the ground or having knowledge of that agency?

   The excerpt below comes from HuffPost's transcript – very much unofficial, HuffPost produced it from the released video (which I haven't watched yet). Assess accordingly –

   huffingtonpost.com/entry/sandra-bland-arrest-transcript_55b03a88e4b0a9b94853b1f1

   EXCERPT FOLLOWS

   "That's when she started kicking. I don't know if it would be resist or if it would be assault. I kinda lean toward assault versus resist because I mean technically, she's under arrest when a traffic stop is initiated, as a lawful stop. You're not free to go. I didn't say you're under arrest, I never said, you know, stop, hands up.

   Correct, that did not occur. There was just the assault part.

   Like I said, after I got her all her situated and buttoned up as far as getting her in a safe vehicle, under arrest, that's why I'm calling you."

Comments are closed.