Posted on 07/23/2016 11:51:49 AM PDT by Theoria
A former Texas jail guard recently admitted to falsifying log entries to show he checked on Sandra Bland an hour before her death when in fact he didn't, according to a lawyer for Bland's family.
But Waller County officials say that's not what jailer Rafael Zuniga's testimony said at all.
"Numerous depositions have been taken in the case involving dozens of hours of testimony," lawyer Larry Simmons said, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"It is a gross miscarriage of justice and a misrepresentation for any party to cherry-pick or mischaracterize a small portion of that testimony, and take it out of context."
Bland's in-custody death last year sparked protests across the country as angry activists demanded answers.
The 28-year-old was in the middle of moving from Texas to the Chicago area when she was collared during a troubling traffic stop when she forgot to put on her turn signal. The arresting officer claimed Bland was combative, but dashcam footage called the cop's version of events into question.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
I live in a tow of about 40,000. It’s fairly crime free as a rule. I have been pulled over 3 times in a year for driving 3 mph over the posted speed, once for taking a corner to wide, I was driving a construction pickup pulling a loaded trailer and one New Year’s Day because my plates were one day past due. I’m military so I know about the job. I have friends that are cops. But I am tired of these fishing expeditions. All of my encounters ended with written warnings. But I never case, what they were really doing was wanting to look in my back seat.
Some LEO’s have what is called, “Heavy badge syndrome” where they take their authority to the extreme. This happens with younger LEOs a lot. Instead of using common sense discretion to deescalate an otherwise very minor infraction.
The traffic stop should have never ended up the way it did.
A few years ago I was speaking with a Michigan State Trooper, back when we had a State Fair, and I asked him about turn signals. He said you only had to use them when changing directions.
:)
Have never heard of someone being pulled over for not using a turn signal.......Where do YOU live? Can you buy a car with optional turn signals in your state? This needs to be enforced 3000% more, in my opinion.
The cop was a complete dickhead. I understand he was fired. Good riddance!
Failing to use a turn signal is not......Then why did they give them to you? So anytime you want to make a turn, you can stop in the middle of the street and pluck your eyebrows? Stop in the middle of the street and not make your intentions known to oncoming traffic? With the enforcement og THAT law, about 25% of all crashes could be lowered.
they are usually pretext stops......Oh, horseshit!!!
Driving while black can be dangerous.
He said you only had to use them when changing directions.....Duhhh!!!
Who cares what you haven’t heard of or who you don’t know?
She wasn’t booked and taken to the police station over it either.
Are you really this dumb? Damn!
I have, and in every single case bar none it is an abuse of authority and an excuse for 4th Amendment violations.
The issue is how many more citizens are going to die at the hands of a government whose propensity for violence is rapidly accelerating.
Um, that is exactly what the article said: "The 28-year-old was in the middle of moving from Texas to the Chicago area when she was collared during a troubling traffic stop when she forgot to put on her turn signal."
Are you really this dumb? Damn!
Yes, I really am dumb enough to believe that when an article says that she was stopped for not using the turn signal and subsequently taken to the police station, that that is what the article said.
You have some real issues. Let's start with your apparent belief that failing to use a turn signal is just as bad as, for example, driving on the left side of the yellow divider line (or on the right side in English or Japanese speaking island countries).
I don't know about where you are, but here, it is exceedingly common for people not to use the turn signal. It is very annoying, for example, when I am waiting on a side street to enter the main road, and someone comes along and I wait for them to pass, but they turn instead--and if they had used the turn signal, I would have known they were turning and would have been able to go. But it probably balances out for all the times I see someone has the turn signal on, and I wait anyway because I don't know if they turned it on to turn, or they forgot to turn it off in the recent past.
LOL I remember when I was in college five of us gals were on our way to the beach. We got pulled over. The cop gave some lame excuse. We were too dumb to figure out why he really stopped us. We figured it out later. Good thing he didn't ask us to get out of the car. ;-)
“DPS stated that Bland was arrested because she kicked Encinia.[21] She was charged with assaulting a public servant.[1] DPS said that she “became argumentative and uncooperative” during the arrest.[23] Officers took her to the Waller County Jail and placed her in a cell alone, because they said they deemed her a high risk to others.[9]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Sandra_Bland
“Yes, I really am dumb enough to believe that when an article says”
Yes, apparently you are.
I never said anything about my beliefs regarding failure to use a turn signal being as bad as anything.
You said- “Running a stop sign seems like a valid reason to pull someone over. Failing to use a turn signal is not.”
So if anyone has real issues, it’s you. How about you go out in your car and make some turns without signal in front of police cars, and see what happens as a result.
I really don’t even know what the purpose of discussing this is. The stop was legit. She broke two laws, got pulled over, proceeded to behave in a way that angered the officer, got into a fight with him and went to jail where she later killed herself.
The officer had nothing to do with her suicide. if his department determined that his behavior ill represented the department and subsequently fired him, fine. if further investigation reveals negligence on the part of the jailers, fine.
She took her own life. She is responsible for her death. That is all there is to it.
Many drivers do not use their turn signals here. I have no idea if they are ever pulled over for it, but I doubt it.
“Some LEO’s have what is called, “Heavy badge syndrome” where they take their authority to the extreme. “
And I suspect that it’s driven from their training in which they are told “you get to go home first, and we will stand behind you in that effort even when what you did was criminal!” To the good, decent, Constitution-observing LEOs, I take my hat off to you for doing a job that’s difficult on a good day. To the one’s who think a badge gives you a license to abuse people and to fail to observe each and every law you’re supposedly sworn to uphold, if I see you doing so, expect to face a citizen’s complaint. if you hurt me or my family, I WILL hurt you back!
You don’t really have to be so rude.
She’s the one the cop who wanted her to put out her cigarette.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.