Sandra Bland’s family is suing the arresting officer and other Texas authorities.
Sandra Bland, who was black, died in police custody three days after a physical confrontation with a white police officer during a traffic stop.
Police say that Sandra Bland hanged herself while being held in the Waller county jail. The family has denied that she was suicidal.
In the last 12 months, the death of black Americans in police custody has caused debate and protests.
An official post-mortem examination report found that Sandra Bland had hanged herself while in her cell.
The wrongful death lawsuit was announced in Houston by the family of the 28-year-old Chicago native.
In it, they name State Trooper Brian Encinia, the Texas Department of Public Safety in Waller County, the county’s sheriff’s department and two jailers as defendants.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive damages “for egregious acts and omissions” and alleges Brian Encinia, 30, falsified an assault allegation to take Sandra Bland into custody.
The jail is accused of being “reckless” in disregarding her safety and failing to keep her free from harm.
Dash cam video shows Sandra Bland’s car being pulled over on 10 July for failing to signal during a lane change.
An argument began after Sandra Bland was asked to put out her cigarette and demanding she get out of her car.
Brian Encinia then points his stun gun at Sandra Bland, telling her “I will light you up” after she refuses his orders.
Sandra Bland was arrested for assaulting an officer. On July 13 she was found dead in her jail cell.
The Texas Department of Public Safety had previously said that Trooper Brian Encinia had acted improperly during the stop.
Sandra Bland, the African-American woman who Texas police say took her own life in custody, left a voicemail to a friend from jail saying she was “at a loss” over her arrest.
In a voicemail obtained by ABC, Sandra Bland, 28, said she could not understand why a traffic violation had led to her detention.
Sandra Blanda was arrested after a confrontation with the policeman who had pulled her car over.
The woman was found dead three days later.
In the message to a friend she said: “I’m still just at a loss for words, honestly, about this whole process. How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this?”
Sandra Bland’s family has rejected the findings of a coroner’s report, which says she hanged herself in her cell at Waller County jail.
The voice message lasted for about 22 seconds and was made after an initial court appearance following her arrest on July 10, ABC reports.
It was one of three calls made by Sandra Bland that day. The others were to her sister and a bail bondsman.
On July 22 it emerged Sandra Bland had told a guard during the booking process that she had previously attempted suicide.
Sheriff Glenn Smith said the comments were made after she was asked a series of questions that are posed to every person who is detained at the jail.
He said another guard had also spoken to Sandra Bland. She told him she was upset but not depressed and both jailers insisted she appeared fine at the time.
State officials and the FBI are investigating her death.
A video of the arrest shows white police officer Brian Encinia giving Sandra Bland a warning. The situation quickly escalates, with Brian Encinia appearing to threaten Sandra Bland after she refuses to get out of her car.
The officer unsuccessfully tries to pull Sandra Bland out and tells her: “I will light you up.”
Cannon Lambert, the lawyer representing Sandra Bland’s family, said relatives have “no evidence” that she previously attempted suicide and denied she was suffering from depression.
He also said the dash cam video of the arrest, which was released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), showed that Sandra Bland’s death “could have easily been avoided”.
Officer Brian Encinia, who has been on the force for just over a year, said he was kicked during the arrest. He has been put on administrative leave.
Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African-American who died in police custody three days after being arrested, told a guard she previously attempted suicide, according to the sheriff in Texas.
A coroner’s report said Sandra Bland hanged herself but her family doubt this.
Sandra Bland was arrested on July 10 over a confrontation with a policeman who pulled her over for a traffic offence.
A video of the incident shows the officer appearing to threaten her with a Taser and say: “I will light you up.”
Both state officials and the FBI are investigating Sandra Blad’s death.
Sheriff Glenn Smith, whose Waller County jail was where Sandra Bland was held, told the AP news agency on July 22 that during the booking process she said she had tried to kill herself in the past .
He said Sandra Bland’s comments were made after she was asked a series of questions that are posed to every person who is detained at the jail in Hempstead, about 60 miles northwest of Houston.
Glenn Smith said another guard also spoke to Sandra Bland. She told him she was upset but not depressed, according to the sheriff, and both jailers insisted she appeared fine at the time.
Sandra Bland was found dead in the cell three days after her arrest and officials say she hanged herself.
Cannon Lambert, the lawyer representing Sandra Bland’s family, said relatives have “no evidence” that she previously attempted suicide and denied she was suffering from depression.
He said the family wanted investigators to get to the bottom of what happened, adding: “Sandy [Bland] was a social activist. Social activists don’t take her own life.”
Cannon Lambert also said the dash cam video of the arrest, which was released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on July 22, showed that Sandra Bland’s death “could have easily been avoided”.
In the video, Brian Encinia, a white police officer, is seen issuing a ticket and then asking Sandra Bland to stub out her cigarette, which she refuses.
When the woman refuses to step out of the car, he tries unsuccessfully to pull her out. He then appears to threaten her with a Taser and says the words: “I will light you up.”
Sandra Bland gets out of the car and they move out of vision, but the audio suggests the confrontation becomes physical before more officers arrive.
A number of breaks were spotted in the original video that the DPS posted on to YouTube, prompting many people on social media to question the authenticity of the entire film.
However, a DPS spokesman insisted it had not been edited and that the glitches were a result of a technical error. The original video was later removed and another version was posted online.
Officer Brian Encinia, who has been on the force for just over a year, said he was kicked during the arrest. He has been put on administrative leave.
Texas DPS director Steven McCraw said his officers have “an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous” but that “wasn’t the case in this situation”.
Sandra Bland’s death is one of several under scrutiny in the US in which a black person has died while in police custody.
Officials have denied editing Texas police dash cam footage showing the arrest of Sandra Bland who died three days later in custody.
Footage of the July 10 arrest shows 28-year-old Sandra Bland’s car being pulled over for failing to signal and then an ensuing confrontation with the officer.
There are several jumps during the 52-minute film, which has had more than one million views on YouTube.
However, Texas authorities say it was not edited and that it will be re-uploaded.
The coroner said Sandra Bland hanged herself in her cell but her family has demanded an independent post-mortem examination.
State officials and the FBI are both investigating her death.
In the video, released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Brian Encinia, a white police officer, is seen issuing a ticket and then asking her to stub out her cigarette, which she refuses.
When Sandra Bland refuses to step out of the car, Officer Brian Encinia tries unsuccessfully to pull her out.
He then appears to threaten her with a Taser and says the words: “I will light you up.”
Sandra Bland gets out of the car and they move out of vision, but the audio suggests the confrontation becomes physical before more officers arrive.
Several breaks in the video were highlighted on social media shortly after the film was released with many using the broken footage to question the entire film’s authenticity:
25:01 – A man walks away from a pick-up truck and out of shot, before reappearing at the door of the vehicle a few seconds later
32:37 – A white car comes into shot then disappears before reappearing a couple of seconds later. The audio doesn’t appear to break during this time, with the officer heard discussing the incident
33:04 – The same footage of the white car is looped, again with no noticeable break in the audio
In a statement released on July 22, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the video “has not been edited”.
“Some of the video… was affected in the upload and is being addressed. We are working to repost the dash cam video,” he added.
Officer Brian Encinia, who has been on the force for just over a year, said he was kicked during the arrest. He has been put on administrative leave.
Texas DPS director Steven McCraw said his officers have “an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous” but that “wasn’t the case in this situation”.
Authorities also released surveillance video from the jail showing officers responding to Sandra Bland’s death but it does not show the cell.
Jail Sheriff Glen Smith said his staff checked on Sandra Bland less than an hour before she was found dead.
In March, Sandra Bland said she was suffering from “a little bit of depression” and post-traumatic stress disorder in a video posted on her Facebook page.
However, family and friends say Sandra Bland was in good spirits in recent months and had just started a new job. She was also said to be in good health when she arrived at the jail.
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