Sandra Bland: Voicemail left for friend; Was she suicidal? Was dashcam video edited?


The case of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman found dead in a jail cell after being arrested during a questionable traffic stop, continues to unfold as more information is released daily.

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Bland, who was from Naperville, Illinois, was stopped on July 10 in Waller County. She was in Texas interviewing for a job at nearby Prairie View A&M University, a historically black college from which she graduated in 2009.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says the state trooper who pulled her over planned to give her a written warning for failing to use her turn signal, but she became uncooperative and argumentative and was eventually arrested. The trooper was placed on desk duty after the arrest and Bland’s jail death became publicly known.

Bland was taken to the jail in Hempstead, about 60 miles northwest of Houston.  She was found dead in a cell on July 13, three days later, while waiting for bond to be posted. A medical examiner ruled her death a suicide caused by asphyxiation.

Here are some of the issues raised by Bland’s arrest and subsequent jail death.

VOICEMAIL LEFT FOR FRIEND

While she was jailed in Texas, Sandra Bland left a voicemail for a friend before she was found dead.

"Hey this is me," Bland says in the message. "I'm, um, I just was able to see the judge. I don't really know. They got me set at a $5,000 bond. I'm still just at a loss for words with this whole process, how switching lanes with no signal turned into all of this, I don't even know. But I'm still here, so, I guess call me back when you can."

WAS BLAND SUICIDAL?

Family members and friends insist Bland was looking forward to a new job at her former school and that she gave no indication she was in such an emotional state that she would kill herself. Family attorney Cannon Lambert says some relatives believe she was killed, and they are seeking more information.

"I'm infuriated and everybody else should be infuriated," Bland's sister, Sharon Cooper, said at a news conference.

Cooper says the dashcam video shows the trooper was never threatened, but her sister was when the trooper pulled out his Taser and pointed it at her.

“When you tell me that you're going to 'light me up,’ I feel extremely threatened and concerned and I'm not going to get out of my car," she said, explaining how her sister must have felt.

Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith claims Bland said in an intake interview with the county jailer that she had tried to commit suicide in 2014, after losing a baby. Officials say she told the jailer she was not on any medication.

DASHCAM VIDEO - WAS IT EDITED? 

In response to questions about gaps and overlaps in the recording that was released Tuesday,  the Texas Department of Public Safety said the video was not edited or manipulated.

Department spokesman Tom Vinger said Wednesday that glitches in the recording arose when it was uploaded for public viewing.

The Texas Department of Public Safety released a new version of Sandra Bland's arrest footage on YouTube in response tothe  allegations that the video was altered. This video compares both versions at the point when inconsistencies begin.

WHO WAS THREATENED PRIOR TO BLAND’S ARREST? 

In the dashcam video, the trooper asks her if she is irritated and she says yes, because she changed lanes to get out of his way and then he pulled her over.

The conversation turns hostile when the officer asks Bland to put out her cigarette and she asks why she can't smoke in her own car. The trooper then orders Bland to get out of the car. She refuses, and he tells her she is under arrest.

Further refusals to get out bring a threat from the trooper to drag her out. He then pulls a stun gun and says, "I will light you up."

When she finally steps out of the vehicle, the trooper orders her to the side of the road. There, the confrontation continues off-camera but is still audible.

The two keep yelling at each other as the officer tries to put Bland in handcuffs and waits for other troopers to arrive.

Out of the camera's view, Bland continues protesting her arrest, repeatedly using expletives and calling the officer a derogatory name. At one point, she screams that he's about to break her wrists and complains that he knocked her head into the ground.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.