Posted on 01/06/2016 3:57:09 PM PST by Ready4Freddy
HEMPSTEAD, Tex. The state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, the Chicago-area woman who three days later was found hanged in her cell at the Waller County jail, has been indicted on a perjury charge, a special prosecutor said here Wednesday.
The charge against the Texas state trooper, Brian T. Encinia, is a Class A misdemeanor, and was announced at the end of a day of grand jury deliberations. The charge carries a possible penalty of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, prosecutors said.
The charge stemmed from a one-page affidavit that Trooper Encinia filed with jail officials justifying the arrest of Ms. Bland, who was pulled over in a routine traffic stop in Prairie View, northwest of Houston, for failing to use her turn signal. Ms. Bland, 28, who was black, was returning to Texas in July to take a job at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M.
The trooper wrote that he removed Ms. Bland from her car in order to conduct a safe traffic investigation, but “the grand jury found that statement to be false,†a special prosecutor, Shawn McDonald, said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Witch hunt
“Witch hunt”
Have you watched the dashcam video of this “stop?” This cop’s behavior is what gives all the good LEO’s a bad name!
let me answer for him.
No.
The cop went out of his way to mess with the female. That was pretty obvious from the video. I’d suspect he has heavy badge issues.
What is the special prosecutor's FR nick? Thanks Ready4Freddy.
We’ll see what happens at trial. Grand jury indictments are easy compared to convictions.
No doubt that politics are in play here.
I think this is deserved. Once guilty, I bet he can be sued in civil court by the family. The officer treated her badly and exaggerated the so-called kick. She was wearing a long skirt and sandals. Plus be picked and picked and picked at her.
Have you watched the dashcam video of this “stop?†This cop’s behavior is what gives all the good LEO’s a bad name!
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I am no fan of today’s cops. In fact, that’s a substantial understatment of my position.
However, I have no issues with this cop’s actions.
Please note that I am not agreeing or disagreeing with the charges against this cop.
In my view he deserves this and then some.
The cop was trying to pick a fight with her. She tried to grit her teeth and take it. He kept pushing her. He told her to get out of the car. She asked why. He said he was going to arrest her. Then he claimed he was arresting her for not cooperating. Then he DID arrest her for a so-called assault (kick). Yes he lied. Repeatedly.
Have you watched the dashcam video of this “stop?†This cop’s behavior is what gives all the good LEO’s a bad name!
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I am no fan of today’s cops. In fact, that’s a serious understatment my position.
However, I have no issues with this cop’s actions. Please note that I am not agreeing or disagreeing with the charges against this cop.
I watched it, and I agree it is a witch hunt.
This poor woman killed herself, but it was not the officer’s fault.
He gave her a lawful order, and she refused to comply.
The officer merely wrote her a warning. But she was so bullheaded she was unwilling to shut her mouth and let the officer advise her of how to proceed away safely or avoid getting pulled over in the future.
I am not saying the officer handled this the best way. But she definitely did not respond the best way. Officers must always be alert to the possibility of someone they pull over attacking them. They also have to worry about another driver running them over while they are standing on the side of the road with their attention on something else.
Lesson to be learned here is to cooperate with the police unless they are instructing you to do something illegal or dangerous. Save your mouthing off for a lawsuit filed at a later time if you must. But do not escalate the situation into a confrontation because you will probably lose even if you are in the right.
Especially do not do this on a Friday night. Bail is not set until at least the following Monday or possibly later if it is a holiday. This means you can spend a few days in a jail even if you are 100% innocent.
Unless some new evidence was brought forward, I will remain convinced that the jury felt they had to make someone pay for this woman’s suicide and would not have otherwise even been asked to render a decision on perjury. The charge itself is ridiculous. An officer can easily make a judgment to stop a conversation and order someone out of their car. It is not unreasonable to order this when dealing with someone who is uncooperative and unwilling to listen to instructions intended for their and other’s safety.
This woman was so worked up, she was ready to assault a police officer, go to jail, and was even unstable enough to hang herself. I would say the officer’s instinct to not allow this woman to drive off in that state of mind was the right one. It is impossible to say for sure what would have happened if the officer would have just ignored this. Perhaps she would have drove off and been just fine. Or perhaps she might have been so worked up she would have immediately caused a wreck and hurt other people on the road.
I have proved before a court that an officer’s statement was false to the point the district attorney had to go back and ask him to make a new statement. The court still upheld this officer’s testimony, and perjury was NEVER even a consideration. Perjury requires a high standard. We cannot just decide to find something to charge a person with because something bad happens.
“However, I have no issues with this cop’s actions. “
She had a tail light out! She was jailed for several days and she’s dead. Now, just how do you justify that? And yeah, she was probably beligerant during the stop, but that doesn’t mean she gets to die at the hands of the cops. Hell, I’ve had words with a cop or two when stopped for a traffic violation, but nothing I ever said or did would be cause for my dying for my actions! We need to get real about how we “enforce” our laws!
The only thing I despise more than a crooked corrupt abusive cop is a corrupt politician. The pols write laws and cops enforce them, and both of them too often forget they work for us.
There is nothing more corrosive to a respected government. If it was up to me the minimum sentence for such first time offenders would be 15 years at hard labor w/o parole and all pensions forefeited. There would never be a second offense because both would be black balled from ever serving in that capacity in any state.
Did you see today her relative with the African turban and the earrings as big as dinner plates, who has come to defend her deceased relative?
Where was this relative when Bland needed someone to bail her out for $500? Her relatives let her sit there and become more and more depressed until she hanged herself.
Now her relatives are all over it and wanting to sue for millions! They should be ashamed!
It’s a good thing that there is a judicial process and that nobody, including a cop, is convicted by opinions from easy chairs.
Bill Clinton’s defenders said that no one goes to jail for perjury.
She had a tail light out! She was jailed for several days and she’s dead. Now, just how do you justify that? And yeah, she was probably beligerant during the stop, but that doesn’t mean she gets to die at the hands of the cops. Hell, I’ve had words with a cop or two when stopped for a traffic violation, but nothing I ever said or did would be cause for my dying for my actions! We need to get real about how we “enforce†our laws!
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The issue is not that she had a tail light out. The issue is that she got belligerant with the cop and refused lawful (and reasonable) orders. That got her thrown in jail. Rightfully.
None of us know what happened after that.
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