Perjury Charge Dropped Against Police Officer Who Arrested Sandra Bland
On Wednesday, June 28, 2017, a perjury charge was dropped that was brought against the officer who arrested Sandra Blanda three days before her death. She was found dead, hanging in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell a few days after being arrested following a traffic stop for an improper lane change. She allegedly got into an altercation with the officer who pulled her over, and she was arrested on an assault charge. Her encounter with the officer was mostly caught on dashcam video from the police cruiser. The video went viral, setting off nationwide, if not worldwide, controversy. The primary protest in connection with the incident is against policing with alleged racial bias.
The former state trooper who pulled Bland over had been charged with perjury for allegedly making a false statement about the arrest. Papers filed at the Waller County Courthouse in Hempstead, Texas, on June 28 show that that charge was dropped. The grand jury had found that he lied in an affidavit in which he allegedly falsely justified the arrest.
After Bland was arrested, she was unable to pay her $5,000 bond. Her death three days after arrest has been ruled a suicide. Since that time, there have been widespread protests about her allegedly needless arrest.
The officer was formally fired from his job in law enforcement in March 2016, after being indicted.
This latest development seems to be the close of year-long investigations, civil court proceedings, and legislation surrounding the arrest and death of Bland. Her family settled on $1.9 million to be paid by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Waller County in a wrongful death lawsuit. In June 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the Sandra Bland Act into law, which provides help for people who are incarcerated and have mental issues.
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