Sandra Bland's autopsy results released; DA confirms suicide by hanging

[brooklynite]

Source: KPRC- Houston

WALLER COUNTY, Texas - The Waller County District Attorney has released autopsy results in the death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old woman who died while in police custody after being arrested during a traffic stop. After Bland was found dead in her jail cell, many suspected that foul play was involved. At a press conference on Thursday, Waller County prosecutor Warren Diepraam confirmed the death as suicide by hanging.

Diepraam said the medical examiner viewed Bland's eyelids, eyeballs and overall face. There were no injuries consistent with struggle. There was, however, a bruise on Bland's neck consistent with suicide. Had it been a violent struggle, the mark would not have been consistent or uniform. During a violent struggle, the pathologist explained one would see hemorraging in the neck and trachea area. There were no injuries indicating a violent struggle.

There were superficial abrasions on Bland's right shoulder blade. Those were consistent with someone applying pressure to her back, or with her applying force against some other object. Those marks do not reveal who placed them. There was a portion of a leaf found in a scab on her back.

There were cut marks on her left arm and at least 30 cut marks on left wrist, in a state of healing with scarring or scabbing, indicating they were placed on her wrists weeks before the arrest.

Read more: http://www.click2houston.com/news/waller-county-da-to-release-autopsy-results-of-sandra-bland/34316928

[Agschmid]

1. There was NO reason for her to be in jail.

Whether or not she commuted suicide, I sure can bet what pushed her over the edge.

My heart breaks for her family.

[murielm99]

3. I agree.

Sometimes, if a person is suffering from depression, a purpose and a new job can lift them out of their pain. She was taking the right steps.

My son has worked with a suicide prevention group on and off. He lost a close friend to suicide after that friend served a couple of tours in Iraq. That young man's family has suffered terribly from his loss. In spite of their suffering, they reach out to others who are going through a death in their family. They have been there for us since our son-in-law's sudden death from a heart attack.

I hope Sandra Bland's family can get the love and support they need. No matter how she died, there is a hole in their lives. And I do not like seeing anything from her background used as a way to discredit her or minimize her death. It drives home that black people are treated as lesser beings. Black lives matter.

[Agschmid]

7. You must be very proud he has volunteered for those organizations.

Tell him thank you!

[murielm99]

14. According to this article,

there is a discrepancy in the form that says she had attempted suicide in the past:

http://wgntv.com/2015/07/23/sandra-bland-left-voicemail-for-friend-before-death-in-texas-jail/

Interestingly, my son lives in the same town as Ms. Bland. I have not yet asked him about his take on the death, or what they are saying in Naperville. Naperville is a wealthy community. My son is not rich. Ms. Bland's family is not necessarily rich, either.

[Person 2713]

33. It is being heavily covered in the area . She also lived in Villa Park so it's all of DuPage reall

having coverage in local papers . I think WGN local news is doing a good job too

. Yes at first I wondered is she was wealthy and her car and education irked the cop Illinois plates and all being fron Naperville but she is not one of the super rich from what I can tell and even though über rich are here there are plenty middle class folk too. She was in no way proverty stricken though I would bet . It would be very hard to be uber poor in Naperville
Wiki
Naperville is a suburb of Chicago, located in DuPage and Will counties in the State of Illinois. Naperville was voted the second-best place to live in the United States by Money magazine in 2006.[3] It was rated 1st on the list of best cities for early retirement in 2013 by Kiplinger.[4]

In a 2010 study, Naperville was named the wealthiest city in the Midwest and eleventh in the nation with a population over 75,000.[5] It was ranked among the nation's safest cities by USAToday. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 141,853, which was estimated to have increased to 144,864 by 2014

[murielm99]

44. I am very proud that

my son is involved in city government in Naperville. He is on the plan commission. That is an important area of concern for a place like Naperville. They want the town to grow in ways that are not detrimental to their identity and safety. Since they are growing all the time, that is a concern.

My son lives in an area of modest homes that is a protected historical district. There are older single-family homes like his, arts-and-crafts homes, and other nice affordable houses. His house was built in the 1950's. It is important to protect these places, because a lot of rich yuppies like to come in and tear down older places. Then they build McMansions on the lots. There was a showy McMansion not far from him that sold recently. Everyone calls it Hogwarts.

[tblue]

31. Your post gives me chills.

No matter how she died, if she hadn't been bullied by that heartless cop, she would be alive today. The officer who assaulted and arrested her is responsible for what happened. He could have just given her that stupid ticket and let her go.

I am so very sorry for your son's loss and for Sandy's families.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

102. Exactly. Sans the arrest and incarceration, she would still be alive. nt

[Botany]

2. Suicide or not there was no reason for her to have been in jail and her death is 100%

on the person who arrested her and those that kept her locked up.

[Agschmid]

5. Yup.

[nc4bo]

4. And we should trust these results - exactly why? nt

[cstanleytech]

15. No one said you had to, the family is doing an autopsy itself though so what will you do

if that report doesnt play into a murder scenario?

[noiretextatique]

87. there is the still the problem

of the bogus arrest that landed her there in the first place.

[cstanleytech]

96. Yes that still remains to looked into and the officer hopefully wont be an officer for much longer.

[freshwest]

21. I don't trust them. Even without going to the link, the OP states:

Those marks do not reveal who placed them.

Could be by police, and I don't buy the report on the other ones.

There was a portion of a leaf found in a scab on her back.

No signs of violence? There she is with a leaf in a scab on her back?

She must have been a mess. Sounds like the cop got in a few good ones with her on the ground.

I'm from Texas and not buying it.

[cstanleytech]

25. "No signs of violence?" They were talking about signs of violence that would have

indicted she had been murdered, if you were not projecting your opinion onto what is in the article you would have seen that.

[freshwest]

36. Whatever you choose to say is your opinion, too. We'll see what the family finds first. EOM. n/t

[cstanleytech]

41. Its in the damn article. sheesh.

[noiretextatique]

88. and every thing in the article is true?

[cstanleytech]

95. And of course you for a fact thats true, right?

[CANDO]

49. Tread lightly

Before you know it, you're a full on racist being alerted on and mob juried the hell out of here. This place does not tolerate open discussion. Don't know why they post threads for discussion when they can't handle an actual discussion.

[CatWoman]

22. that's the million dollar question

[geardaddy]

6. It also apparently showed that she had marijuana in her system.

Now, I don't even know why that has anything to do with her arrest or death. Sounds like victim smearing to me.

[hollysmom]

13. maybe a little pot in her food would keep her from struggling when that noose was

slipped on. Wonder what else was in the blood stream.

[cstanleytech]

17. The part I found intriguing was this

"There were cut marks on her left arm and at least 30 cut marks on left wrist, in a state of healing with scarring or scabbing, indicating they were placed on her wrists weeks before the arrest."
It is going to be interesting to see if the examiner doing the autopsy for the family has to say about them.

[Recursion]

79. I guess the implication is that they were hesitation marks (nt)

[cstanleytech]

84. Possible but it could also have just been simple injuries that she

got doing gardening or from some other accident as well which is probably why the medical examiner only briefly mentioned them and did not make any conclusions to their cause.

[KT2000]

59. How long does marijuana stay

in the system. She had been in jail for 3 days.

[moonscape]

74. About 10 days.

[Politicalboi]

75. Try 30 days

Depends on how much fat is in your body, and how often you consume. She didn't seem high in that video. She was looking forward to suing these bastards. I highly doubt she killed herself.

[cstanleytech]

97. Unless I missed reading something on this case (its always possible)

so far there hasnt been any evidence that would support anything other than suicide.
Of course that could change with the report from the medical examiner hired by the family or because of the investigation by the FBI, we will just have to wait and see.

[TantaLois]

8. autopsy released

What happened to the reports of botched autopsy and to the independent autopsy the family ordered? and the request for return of the body?

[840high]

34. Body is being returned.

[Igel]

39. You listened to hearsay.

The family said they'd get a second autopsy. They may. That's their call and unrelated to this story.


The family's lawyer then said that the county wanted to do a second autopsy. The speculation was that there were things that the independent autopsy would show that the first autopsy didn't. Or they wanted to add things to play CYA.

From there, it was concluded that the first autopsy was somehow botched.


The county has said it's not asking for the body to be returned and hadn't requested it. Full autopsy report to be released Friday--tomorrow, I guess. In other words, this is the "botched" autopsy that only those distantly removed from the investigation ever called "botched".

[nikto]

9. To summarize:

The cops were white, the victim was black. Open-and-shut case.

Murder is legal in America, for the Police.


God bless America.

[noiretextatique]

101. SOS...different victim eom

[heaven05]

10. these pigs are in CYA mode

they'll say and do anything to protect their white privilege and perception of white superiority. She was in jail because she was not subservient enough with 'new massa'. She was harassed to no end in that jail by those jailers and sheriffs. FTS!!!!!!!!!!! I'll wait for the independent autopsy result. Their good old boy network is circling the wagons and that medical examiner is part of that club, no doubt. This so sad for her family. All these families suffering because of racism in the last three years alone. Well, I heard her mother said, the gloves were off...so...we'll wait on that one also.

[noiretextatique]

89. +1000 same shit they always do

and the same gullible fools fall for it every time.

[TBF]

11. That's exactly what I'd expect from

the Waller County DA. Has the family ordered an independent autopsy?

[Geronimoe]

12. Very suspicious

Most of us has seen/heard the struggle she had with arresting officer with him slamming her head to the ground and yet the examiner found no bruising or evidence of a struggle?

The family best get their own independent autopsy.

They should engrave on her tombstone, Died in Texas because of a traffic signal violation.

I have had police speed up behind me. One doesn't know if you did something wrong or they are attempting to get by you. All you want to do is get out of their way. Once I was pulled over, for speeding, but I only increased speed to pull ahead of car to my right so I could get out of the way. When I explained that the policemen had come up behind me so quickly it scared me and I just wanted to get out of his way, he didn't issue a warning or ticket. Luckily I'm Caucasian.

[cstanleytech]

20. Read it again then.

"There were superficial abrasions on Bland's right shoulder blade. Those were consistent with someone applying pressure to her back, or with her applying force against some other object. Those marks do not reveal who placed them. There was a portion of a leaf found in a scab on her back."

[whathehell]

78. Deep tissue bruising on her back..

consistent with someone kneeling on her back.

[cstanleytech]

85. Which barring any unforeseen circumstances probably were caused when she

was arrested as we heard her clearly struggling with the officer a good deal because you can hear her on the tape saying that he was hurting her wrists and a lot of people would probably struggle in that situation I would imagine.

[whathehell]

93. He had her on the ground with his knee on her back. n/t

[riderinthestorm]

16. This isn't the independent autopsy is it? I thought the family was getting an independent review

Furthermore, I thought Texas wanted Sandra Blands body back because they "botched" the autopsy.

Is this a corrected result or the "botched" result if its the county pathologist?

[cstanleytech]

18. Considering this is from the DA its a good bet that its not the one from the family

besides they havent had the body long enough to get all the results back yet I imagine.

[msongs]

19. perhaps a case for hanging. not a proof for suicide nt

[CatWoman]

23. bingo!!

[cstanleytech]

24. Huh? If she hung herself its still suicide.

Now if you mean its murder the report says they did not find signs that it was but thats why family is having another autopsy done to find out what she died from which should uncover any discrepancies in the medical examiners report.

[NutmegYankee]

45. Hanging doesn't mean suicide.

Hanging was used as a means of execution for thousands of years. If the victim was unconscious when noosed, there would be no signs of a struggle.

[cstanleytech]

53. Do you have a spec of evidence to support that in this specific case atm? Yes or no?

[NutmegYankee]

58. Hmmm. Black civil rights activist ends up dead of hanging in racist county.

Nothing suspicious about that...

[cstanleytech]

61. Again, do you have a spec evidence in this specific case at this moment? simple yes or no?

[NutmegYankee]

62. I refuse to answer your question.

[cstanleytech]

63. That reply is more than enough of an answer. nt

[NutmegYankee]

65. Your replies were most revealing as well.

[cstanleytech]

66. Yes, mine are about wanting something to be supported by evidence and not unsubstantiated opinion.

[NutmegYankee]

67. And you have what evidence?

Oh right- news reports with preliminary data.

[cstanleytech]

70. I never claimed to have anything that refutes the current ruling of suicide and I have said it will

be interesting to hear what the examiner hired by the family has to say and if it will be the same ruling as the medical examiners ruling was.
If its not then well its not and I hope FBI and the DOJ will get involved even more.
You however have implied it wasnt suicide based on what evidence I then asked you refused to answer and knowing how bad you looked with your own words you tried to shift it back against me with the whole "Your replies were most revealing as well." shtick and its not going to work.
You are like all of us here in that you are entitled to have an opinion (and no thats not permission, thats a fact) about any case even without evidence. That is 100% fine to have but dont pretend, just admit that you have none if you are asked about having any atm and move on because it is 100% ok to have an opinion thats not evidence based just dont BS around it though.

[CatWoman]

71. yup

[noiretextatique]

100. same apologist b.s.

different

[noiretextatique]

90. do YOU have specific evidence, aside from the

claims of the law enforcement establishment? it is not like this hasn't happened before.
http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/another-black-man-killed-police
June 2nd
On this date in 1981, Ron Settles was murdered while in police custody. Settles was a Black student athlete (football) at Long Beach State University in California.

The incident began when he was pulled over for speeding by the Signal Hills Police Department (SHPD) in Long Beach, CA. He was arrested after a scuffle with SHPD white officers. That night he was found hanged in a jail cell at the SHPD station. Police officials maintained Settles committed suicide, and no criminal charges were filed. His parents accused officers of killing their son and hanging him in a cell to cover up his murder.

In a subsequent coroner's inquest, attorney Johnny Cochran demonstrated the chokehold, which resulted in a jury's finding that Settles had died "at the hands of another." Moreover, the decision was reversed in court following the testimony of an expert (a Dr. Baden), who determined there was no evidence that Settles had died from hanging, but was most likely killed by a chokehold. The case was settled in 1983, and though the family was awarded $1 million dollars, no officer was ever brought to trial.

[cstanleytech]

94. How about you try and find a case thats actually relevant to this police department and not

an entirely different police department, in an entirely different state and 30+ years ago?

[noiretextatique]

98. i don't need to: same shit has been happening all over the country

for decades. and since you don't seem to comprehend that, perhaps YOU need to do some research on the subject.

[cstanleytech]

103. You are right, you dont have to do that. I mean

these days it really makes life so much easier if we dont think about if things are relevant after all.

[noiretextatique]

104. #clueless

you buy "the official version: hook, line, and sinker i just you an example where the official version was proven to bullshit, even though NONE of the police officers were ever charged. the fact that Ronnie Settles died in police custody 30+ years ago...with the same bullshit story of suicide...proves the thin blue line is still trying to close ranks in this case. but, i am sure you are not always an authoritarian who swallows the official version whole

[cstanleytech]

106. No, I just dont buy people spewing irrelevant BS is all.

[LeftOfWest]

76. Yes. This.

n/t

[Man from Pickens]

26. I don't buy it at all

I've seen indications that she may already have been dead at the time they took her booking photo.

[840high]

35. BS - I have seen

many dead people. Many. She was alive at booking.

[Man from Pickens]

47. are you sure about that?

hop on Twitter, check out the #justiceforsandrabland feed, and in particular the photos that are there. Something is rotten about this case, more so than the obvious.

[840high]

55. ABC news tonight - had a young woman

on who said she heard her crying in her cell and saying she can't handle this.

[Man from Pickens]

57. Another prisoner?

If so, then a person who would be subject to retaliation and reward by the primary suspects can't be considered to have any credibility at all. Very easy to imagine an order to "go on TV and say that she was talking suicide in her cell" with a reward for cooperation and nasty punishments for refusal.

[jberryhill]

69. And the voice mail message was done by a voice actor

They had to train the voice actor to sound just like Bland, in order to fake a phone call from the jail after she was dead.

Is that correct?

Then they had to buy off the coroner to say a three day old corpse was alive that morning.

How many people do you suppose are in in this thing?

[Recursion]

80. How did she call her family, then? (nt)

[cwydro]

83. Dead in the booking photo?

Oh, please.

[arcane1]

27. I'm still wondering what a plastic bag was allegedly doing in her cell n/t

[SolutionisSolidarity]

29. I think they are back to calling it a "hanging" now.

[840high]

37. Trash bags were approved in jail long

before she went there.

[Travis_0004]

52. It was for the trash can

I don't know why everybody things that trash bags are banned in jail.

For maximum security prisons, probably, but it a small holding cell, its not that rare to find them.

I've visited jails before, and seen a few inmates filling trash bags with water and lifting weights with them.

[arcane1]

56. I have some limited jail experience, and there were no cans or bags present, hence my curiosity

Though that was like 25 years ago.

[jberryhill]

82. Most likely, every county jail is different

[SolutionisSolidarity]

28. When is the federal autopsy?

[pnwmom]

30. Her jailers have provided no record showing that she received her needed

seizure med while she was there, a drug called Keppra.

Going on or off Keppra can increase a patient's risk of suicide and of seizures, so patients are advised to go off it by gradually reducing the dose. If they didn't give it to her while she was jailed, then she was at risk. (Suddenly stopping it is an extreme form of "changing the dose.&quot


http://www.drugs.com/keppra.html

Tell your doctor if you have symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts during the first several weeks of treatment, or whenever your dose is changed.



Also, it isn't clear from the prosecutor's statement whether the autopsy looked for injuries inside the brain related to a concussion -- injuries which also could have increased the possibility of suicide.

And there is also the possibility that she died of a seizure, and her jailers decided to make it look like a suicide.

[cstanleytech]

43. It seem like just about every prescription medication carries a suicide warning these days.

[pnwmom]

46. Well, with seizure medicines only SOME of them carry this warning,

and Keppra is one that does.

[noiretextatique]

99. crickets...

as expected.

[cstanleytech]

105. If you are trying to be insulting you are going to need to work harder. nt

[noiretextatique]

107. insult?

Here is some more research for you, since you cannot use google.

http://epubs.utah.edu/index.php/ulr/article/viewFile/418/316

Forensic scientists may become partisan. The very fact that the police
seek their assistance may create a relationship between the police and
the forensic scientists. And the adversarial character of the
proceedings tends to promote this process. Forensic scientists
employed by the government may come to see their function as
helping the police.

[cstanleytech]

108. Well no shit, thats why the family is having her body examined by someone else FYI.

[KT2000]

60. The medication being stopped abruptly

and if she was a smoker forced to stop abruptly, it is possible she was dealing with strange emotions. If that is the case I don't see how they could ignore her status and not even look in on her. Maybe they did and something happened where they made it look like suicide.
This is not over until they look at the brain.

[pnwmom]

64. I agree. It sounds like their "autopsy" consisted in examining the body from the outside, didn't it?

I hope the family's autopsy was much more complete.

[cstanleytech]

73. I suspect it might be impossible to prove though that the lack of medication

or smoking is what caused her to commit suicide because if it was easy to prove many pharmaceutical companies would soon be out of business.
As for rest, so far there isnt anything that supports that they did anything to make it "look" like suicide rather the evidence so far points to it "being" suicide but it will be interesting to learn if the medical examiner for the family corroborates the first medical examiners report.

[840high]

68. Did they know she was taking it?

[Beacool]

32. She shouldn't have been arrested in the first place, but I don't think that she was murdered.

Maybe being in jail triggered a bout of depression, but I don't think that they killed her outright. Either way, a young woman is dead and that's a tragedy. May she rest in peace.

[840high]

38. +1

[zentrum]

40. Just because hanging

……was the cause elf death doesn't mean it was suicide. Still could be murder.

Going to be hard to prove, if so.

[cstanleytech]

42. " Still could be murder." Yes, it "could be" but is it? I do not know but

it will be interesting to read what the examiner for the family determines after they examine the body and review the evidence.

[Novara]

48. How do you "hang" yourself with a plastic trash can liner and it doesn't come loose at either end?

Especially because most people do struggle as they're dying of strangulation, even if it might be self-inflicted. Plastic is slippery. And if she hung herself, wouldn't she have had some other bruises somewhere on her body from thrashing with the strangulation? Wouldn't she have had some bruising after the cop was so rough with her?

Also, I heard on the PBS Newshour that she had a lot of marijuana in her system. How'd she have "a lot" after being in jail for three days? That's smearing the victim.

[840high]

50. The report I read was that

she had so much that even after 3 days it showed.

[cstanleytech]

54. Well most people use a thing called a knot but you can wrap it a few times around and tuck it under

each overlapping section in a crisscross pattern and it will hold pretty well when pressure is applied pulling on it.
Would have to see photos to determine exactly how she did it as for the supposed lack of bruising you are asking about it depends on how she used the bag.
Edit: And yes, a plastic bag can hold the weight if you twist it.

If she had it around her neck in such a way as to cut off the flow from her carotid arteries then she probably wasnt awake long enough to thrash around as it would have rendered her unconscious in a few seconds not from a lack of air but from a lack of blood to the brain.

https://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/q-and-a-how-long-does-it-take-for-someone-to-die-from-carotid-artery-compression/

[Recursion]

81. A knot. On the other side, how does a cop murder her without entering the cell?

Now, hopefully the FBI will go over that surveillance tape with a fine toothed comb and find any edits/alterations that may be in there. But as it stands right now there's no evidence of somebody else going into the cell.

[cstanleytech]

86. I kinda doubt that the FBI will miss any such tampering

unless this police station has a professional video and effects editor which I doubt that they do though I am sure that there will be a few diehards who will cling to some fantasyland view that the tape was altered still just like there are some who claim that the Moon landing was faked.

[6000eliot]

72. NOTHING to see here.

Just another set of SPECIFIC circumstances that just so happen to have led to the death of ANOTHER unarmed black person in police custody. NOTHING to see here at all.

[chillfactor]

77. I would not trust a Texas DA....

any more than I trust an alley cat....

[noiretextatique]

91. Ronnie Settles supposedly hung himself too

I went to high school with him.

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/another-black-man-killed-police

Date:
Tue, 1981-06-02
On this date in 1981, Ron Settles was murdered while in police custody. Settles was a Black student athlete (football) at Long Beach State University in California.

The incident began when he was pulled over for speeding by the Signal Hills Police Department (SHPD) in Long Beach, CA. He was arrested after a scuffle with SHPD white officers. That night he was found hanged in a jail cell at the SHPD station. Police officials maintained Settles committed suicide, and no criminal charges were filed. His parents accused officers of killing their son and hanging him in a cell to cover up his murder.

In a subsequent coroner's inquest, attorney Johnny Cochran demonstrated the chokehold, which resulted in a jury's finding that Settles had died "at the hands of another." Moreover, the decision was reversed in court following the testimony of an expert (a Dr. Baden), who determined there was no evidence that Settles had died from hanging, but was most likely killed by a chokehold. The case was settled in 1983, and though the family was awarded $1 million dollars, no officer was ever brought to trial.

[Blue_Tires]

92. I thought they said she suffocated herself?