Woman who died in cell mentioned previous suicide attempt

[alp227]

Source: AP

DALLAS (AP) — A woman whose death in a Texas jail has raised suspicions about the official conclusion that she hanged herself told a guard during the booking process that she had tried to kill herself in the past, the sheriff said Wednesday.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith told The Associated Press during a telephone interview that Sandra Bland told a jailer July 10 about a previous suicide attempt, while being asked a series of questions posed to each person booked into the jail. He did not provide further details about the conversation.

Asked about Smith's assertion, the attorney representing Bland's family, Cannon Lambert, said relatives have "no evidence" that she ever attempted suicide or had been treated for depression.

It was not immediately clear why the department hadn't previously disclosed details of conversations with Bland, or whether they were shared with other jail staff. It also wasn't clear whether Bland was on suicide watch or otherwise specially monitored during her weekend incarceration.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f955cda39da041c883233b88b3238043/dashcam-video-shows-confrontational-texas-traffic-stop

[Hoyt]

1. All the more reason to get her help, and monitor her closely.

[brush]

51. Lawrence O'Donnell featured this claim last night on his show

He showed the form this claim from the Texas jail was written on. It had a series of checkboxes with hand-written marks on it.

There was no time stamp or any evidence that Sandra Bland checked the boxes, no Sandra Bland signature.

In other words, that form could have been done at anytime, by anyone — even after she was killed to bolster the claim that she was suicidal.

Let's don't fall for the okie doke. Those racists killed that woman because she didn't "know her place".

[Hoyt]

56. Pretty much same thing if you just don't care about someone, isn't it?

[msongs]

2. how convenient. suppose that is on recording? nt

[brush]

40. Yeah, right? I don't believe that for a minute.

Are we supposed to be that gullible that we believe that that tough, big city, young woman activist we saw

on that video would volunteer something like that to some small town questioner who she probably viewed

as complicit in her illegal arrest — and a hick at that?

I think not.

That BS is all a part of planting seeds in the public mind to help cover-up her murder IMO, and it's an old trick

practiced by oppressor societies to eliminate activists. During the apartheid era in South Africa arrested

activist quite often were alleged to have committed suicide while in custody. It came out years latter in the

"truth and reconciliation hearings" that the authorities actually murdered them.

This might explain the recent rash of 3 black women in police custody who have allegedly committed suicide in

this country. And btw, black women have the lowest rate of suicide of any demographic segment.

We are not fools. We do not believe Sandra Bland committed suicide.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

54. It was on some form or other.

Looks like it was after a miscarriage or stillbirth or something. Certainly something far more wrenching that getting tossed in jail for a traffic violation.

[virtualobserver]

3. unless that was a videotaped booking process

maybe, by an unusual coincidence every one that they abuse happens to mention previous "suicide" attempts.

[Ino]

4. Unless that statement is on video, I don't believe it.

Cops will spin any tale that suits them.

[Paladin]

9. My sentiments exactly. (nt)

[Fred Sanders]

12. "Woman who died in cell"? Seriously? Is that what AP is calling Sandra Bland?

[Anansi1171]

17. Especially Sherriff R. Glenn Smith!

Keep your eyes on the ball, and the internet is your friend.

[restorefreedom]

19. easy to add that to the form

after she is dead

[SoapBox]

25. Ditto.

Tape? Witnesses? Was anyone told? Was she on a watch?

This is just too bizarre.

My gut says it's a lie and part of the cover up.

[Warpy]

5. Then she should have been on suicide watch.

There is no reason for this woman to be dead except gross misconduct by the arresting officer and gross negligence by jail staff, at the very least.

No one should die for changing lanes without signaling on a very lightly traveled road.

[cstanleytech]

21. 99.99.9% agree.

The fraction of a % loss is for the whole "No one should die for changing lanes without signaling on a very lightly traveled road." part because she didnt die for changing lanes she died by taking her own life assuming of course the investigation doesnt find anything to counter the medical examiners ruling.

[Warpy]

24. She should have been given a warning for such an outrageous offense

That pig cop just couldn't resist escalating the whole thing into trumped up resisting and assault charges.

He and that negligent jail were the proximate causes if she committed suicide.

[cstanleytech]

26. I agree the officer was in the wrong regardless of how she behaved with her name calling

he showed he was either not properly trained or he is just an idiot but he didnt kill her.
I agree with you on the negligent part though but thats for her time in jail as she should have been on a suicide watch you would think based on this supposed statement that she said she had tried to kill herself before that the sheriff is now claiming she made when they were booking her.

[JimDandy]

22. Whoa boy have they stepped in it now.

The family is going to have reason for a lawsuit either way now.

[cstanleytech]

27. Exactly. Hopefully it also means there will be a new sheriff in office soon and maybe new

officers in general for the department and hopefully far better trained ones as well.

[JimDandy]

29. Indeed! n/t

[City Lights]

6. I'll believe it only if I see her saying it on tape.

If it is true, she should have been monitored closely, which she obviously wasn't. Plus, she shouldn't have had a plastic bag in the cell with her.

[Fred Sanders]

7. Question: how did a bogus and illegal arrest for a turn signal infraction turn into 3 days in jail??

Double hearsay is doubly dangerous and irrelevant and this release of "information" shows the complete ignorance of the law and the rule of law by this outed, racist Texas County Sheriff and his entire department.

The same ignorance Sandra Blamd came to Texas to take a job and fight to be rid of.

[cstanleytech]

23. Because her family was working on raising the bond money from what I heard.

5000 might not be alot for you but for most of us its next to impossible to get right away.

[Fred Sanders]

30. My point wasn't the money...it was on what ginned up charges? The cops anger started it all.

[cstanleytech]

36. Agreed, his attitude didnt help but her calling him a pussy certainly didnt help much either.

They both were behaving more like children than they were like mature adults.

[RobinA]

49. Neither One of Them

really helped matters in this case, although the onus was solidly on him as the professional in the situation. One thing I see in a bunch of these cop cases is police starting down the power struggle road without (apparently) asking themselves if they are prepared to play it to its possible conclusion and whether or not it is worth it. This guy, like the Garner police, waded in beyond the point of no return and then had to complete the scenario to everyone's detriment.

I am not a police, but I work in mental health and before I start to exercise authority, I try to make a conscious decision as to whether I can get the result I want in a way that I am willing to accept, and is the result worth what I might have to do to get it. Most often, the answer is no when safety is not involved. This guy should have asked himself where he was going before he ordered her to put her cigarette out. As well, as a citizen dealing with police, she should have asked herself the same thing before she refused. But again, he had the greater responsibility in this case.

[Sunlei]

70. 1 yr cop knew she would sue & would win, and the pu.COWARD was going to shut her mouth with a felony

[Sunlei]

52. the charged was ginned up when the officer was his front to her back, pulling her wrists back to

cuff. naturally she was moving, as he was moving her & bending her wrists, holding her fingers hard enough for her ring to 'scratch' him. close enough so when she raised her feet, her sandaled foot touched his shin.

instant 'ginned up' FELONY charge.

He even had another officer 'witness'. Watch the video. The female officer who pulled up later, said "I saw" and made a small back wards foot lifting motion with her leg. I bet that officer who said they saw 'the kick' was in the police report.

A felony charge ruins peoples lives and police officers know that. The bail is very high for those felony charges.

[riderinthestorm]

33. The bail part troubles me. She was from Naperville IL, the wealthiest town

in one of the wealthiest counties in the country - Dupage.

Her family isn't poor. There's no section 8 housing there. Rentals are astronomical even if they don't own a home there.

Don't you have to post 10% of the total bail $?

That would be $500.

$500

Why didn't her family bail her out on day 1?

[cstanleytech]

35. Well assuming they are not poor

you would have to ask her family why, maybe they were on the outs with her at the time or maybe they were trying "tough love" for some reason.

[riderinthestorm]

37. Agreed on all points

and its a minor detail.

I just wonder...

[Fred Sanders]

41. Total nonsense devoid of facts or reason.

[riderinthestorm]

42. I grew up in Dupage County and I'm intimately familiar with this area

I've made no assertions. Just observations based on direct knowledge.

I know Naperville. I grew up nearby in Naperville's closest relative. I lived in Wheaton IL for 25 years as an adult - an absolute neighbor of Naperville.

My.post isn't nonsense or devoid of facts. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone familiar with the
Chicago area who'd dispute what I've said.

I don't like the "facts" of Sandra Blands arrest either. But damned if I'll sugar coat facts.

[Fred Sanders]

53. Growing up in the same general area as a crime scene gives no one special knowledge of crimes in the area.

And does nothing for logic or logical nonsense.

[riderinthestorm]

63. Sandra Bland is from Naperville. Her arrest was in TX

so Naperville is relevant because her family is there.

The median household income for Naperville is in excess of $100,000 last time I checked.

$100,000

Those are facts. I lived in Wheaton, the town next door for years and was in Naperville daily for work, shopping and friends since I lived right on the border and Naperville was closer than downtown Wheaton for me. My doctor, dentist, chiropractor, and attorney are there. I swam daily at the Naperville YMCA pool for 25 years. It's ridiculous to say a person can't "know" a place when they've had decades of daily experience there.

[Igel]

66. It's a reasonable point.

She's been described as being from Naperville. That might mean "Naperville adjacent", it might mean center of Naperville. Can't know.

Poverty rate is under 3% in Naperville, and a good chunk of that is retirees. Median household income is over $105k, over $130k for a family. 82% white, under 3% black.

That said, it's not speculation that the bond was set at $5k. And it's not been speculated, but the bondsman was quoted to say that all she had to pay was $500 for the bond. That suggests either her family was in that "under 3%" in poverty, or at least near poverty and didn't have easy access to $500; or her family wasn't rushing to bail her out.

I've seen her family quoted as saying she didn't have epilepsy. She said she did. I've seen it reported that she had her license suspended 3 times in the last few years, and she had a run-in or two with the locals in Waller and in Harris counties when she was a PV A&M. And while her self-diagnosis doesn't rise to clinical standards, and we can't rule out hypochondria, she did say she felt a bit depressed and suffered from a little PTSD. Perhaps from her previous run-ins with police or the bureaucracy, perhaps from just the fear of run ins.

The thing about making somebody into a symbol is that then their entire history has to be open for discussion. If she did "everything right," then she really has to be shown to have done everything right. If her family is to be fully trusted, then her story and their story have to agree.

[Sunlei]

61. what is the bail on the felony charge of assault a police officer, with 'injury' to officer &

resist arrest.? I don't think $500 to a bail bondsman will cover those charges.

The police officer had already set-up the felony 'with injury' charge, he said on video 'I have cut on my hand from her and my leg hurts"

[riderinthestorm]

64. Sandra Blands bail was set for $5000.

i believe you only have to post 10% to be released.



That would be $500

[Sunlei]

69. she did make 3 calls from jail, one to a bail bondsman, 2 to family.

then once the $500 is paid to bail bondsman, crown towing took her old car...how much is that cost to get car back & the transportation to get to crown towing? what if she didn't have a local family member or one with $500, or she didn't have the money. Car wasn't new.

How much is the court costs and travel to their court?

It was her first day in Texas, she was to start a new job.

It sickens me how easy it is for one asshole police officer to ruin some ones life and drive them to suicide. And all the other police are just as guilty, to allow that shit to happen hundreds, thousands of times.

[irisblue]

8. her family or therapist know bout a previous attempt?

hmmmm How much mud is in Waller Co Tx?

[irisblue]

46. damn, apparently she did have a history, poor woman.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141154453

[Fred Sanders]

58. Who does not have "a history"? The point being deflected from is: why was she arrested in the first place?

Why did an illegal arrest and detention end in death 3 days later in the custody of a racist police force in a racist county?

[Fred Sanders]

57. He believes double hearsay evidence repeated on the TV and has already blamed the dead victim?

[heaven05]

10. CYA has started

I just don't or will I ever believe these ........ They're going to walk.

[Quayblue]

68. yep

I think people need to start preparing for some hot months ahead.

[uhnope]

11. Allegedly. "Sandra Bland told a jailer...the sheriff said." This reeks of lies

Bad headline, biased writing

[uhnope]

13. Headline should be "Sheriff Now Claiming Sandra Bland Mentioned Suicide to a Guard"

[lostnfound]

34. +1. Misleading headline. Nt

[cstanleytech]

39. Not the OPs fault though, LBN rules dont allow for altering headlines of articles. nt

[lostnfound]

71. Yes, it was AP's fault. Not criticism of the OP.

[marble falls]

14. Unless its on tape I do not believe it.

[tularetom]

15. If thats true they are guilty of negligent homicide for not putting her on suicide watch

I don't see where that story does anything to reduce their culpability in this young woman's death.

It's time for Obama's DOJ to step in and take charge of this case before anymore evidence can be destroyed. Only he's probably afraid to because, well, it is Texas and you know, Jade Helm 15.

[jalan48]

16. Looks like they are starting to just make shit up now.

[tazkcmo]

18. Liars. n/t

[restorefreedom]

20. suuuuure she did

and IF she did, which I don't believe for a second, is even more reason not to put her in a cell with a plastic bag.

[GoneFishin]

28. They are making shit up. If that were true it would have been a 24/7 Fox News crawl

from the first instance.

They are back-filling now.

[Fred Sanders]

31. Just like in Ferguson, cops making shit up and selectively releasing hearsay not evidence with no value but to deflect.

[GoneFishin]

32. Yep. And then it gets repeated by media until it becomes a "proven fact".

I had someone get quite angry as he told me positively that 20 witnesses saw Michael Brown charge at Darin Wilson. When I calmly said "Nope, your wrong. That is absolutely not true". He told me that he was certain it was true because it was reported all over the TV news channels.

[1Greensix]

38. Reckless negligence or stupidity, but someone needs to be fired

there is no part of this case that doesn't wreak of stupidity, racism, negligence and criminal conduct on the part of the police. Somebody needs to be fired and banned from police work.

[Kalidurga]

43. They are flat out lying.

[tavernier]

44. I'm white. Everyone I know is white.

NO ONE believes she committed suicide.

This is total fiction.

Nothing about this incredulous story rings true.

No one pulled over for a lane change hangs themselves unless they are tortured or made to do so.

I've never felt as strongly in my life to go and advocate for anyone, but in this case, I will buy a ticket to be in the front line!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

48. I'm with you! This is the point where we need to STOP THIS CRAP!

Every other murder has come and gone, but this has to be the end. This has to mean something! That racist prick officer should have just given her the warning and let her on her way. This fuck has to pay something for this. She WOULD NOT be dead except for his unprofessional and harassing behavior.
#BLACKLIVESMATTER Goddammit!!

[samsingh]

45. the police then are guilty of not caring for a prisoner and should be charged with negilent homicide

[sufrommich]

55. Then there should be a video of her interview with the jail staff

in which this happens,right? In the video showing her cell after her death, the trash bag is still in the receptacle.They're lying.

[sufrommich]

60. I'd be willing to bet interview rooms in jails are equipped

with video cameras.In fact,I'd be willing bet your journey from arrest to jail cell is recorded for legal purposes.

[Hoyt]

62. I bet so too. It sure should be.

[Igel]

67. I'd be willing to bet some are.

Waller County?

There I think I'd have to disagree and just say "it's possible." Population's a bit over 50k for the county. The sheriff's office doesn't have a huge budget for anything, except perhaps gasoline.

[Starry Messenger]

65. Fuck this bullshit.