Texas trooper indicted on perjury charges in Sandra Bland case
A Texas trooper, who arrested a black motorist found hanged in jail three days later, was indicted by a grand jury on perjury charges on Wednesday.
The Houston Chronicle reported Trooper Brian Encinia who arrested Sandra Bland in July, was indicted by the grand jury in Waller County, outside of Houston.
Her case was one of many in recent months that have raised questions of racial bias in U.S. policing.
Special prosecutors were not immediately available for comment
In December, a grand jury in the same county decided not to indict any members of the jail staff over Bland's death.
Bland was pulled over on July 10 by Encinia for failing to signal a lane change in Prairie View, about 50 miles northwest of Houston.
The stop escalated into a verbal altercation after Encinia asked Bland to put out a cigarette and she refused, with Encinia telling Bland, "I will light you up," a dashcam video of the incident showed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety faulted Encinia for his conduct in the traffic stop.
Bland was arrested and charged with assaulting an officer, a felony.
The discovery of Bland's body in her cell three days later with a trash bag around her neck raised suspicions of racist treatment. Her family has filed a wrongful death suit.
Local officials have said she was not mistreated in jail.
