Texas jail releases video of arrestee before death

Margaret Hilaire bows her head in prayer during a demonstration calling for the firing and indictment of Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia, Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Katy, Texas. Sandra Bland was found dead in her cell on July 13 in the Waller County Jail, just days after being arrested by Encinia during a traffic stop.
Margaret Hilaire bows her head in prayer during a demonstration calling for the firing and indictment of Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia, Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Katy, Texas. Sandra Bland was found dead in her cell on July 13 in the Waller County Jail, just days after being arrested by Encinia during a traffic stop.

HEMPSTEAD, Texas -- Texas authorities on Tuesday released several hours of footage showing Sandra Bland during her three days in jail, saying they wanted to dispel rumors that she was dead before arriving there.

Trey Duhon, the county judge of Waller County, said such conspiracy theories -- including one that Bland's mug shot was taken after her death -- have prompted death threats against county officials.

"Because of some of the things that's gone out on social media, this county has been literally attacked," he said at a news conference, adding that the FBI is investigating the most serious threats.

"Sandra Bland was alive and well" until she hanged herself July 13 in her cell at the Waller County jail, Duhon said. Authorities have ruled that Bland's death, three days after her arrest during a confrontational traffic stop, was a suicide.

The video released shows her arriving at the jail, being questioned by a jailer filling out forms, making phone calls, getting her mug shot taken, sleeping in her cell and being taken in and out.

She's calm when she arrives at the jail, sometimes smiling and at one point putting her head in her hands. The jailer let her use the phone at the booking desk instead of the pay phone in her cell, and she had an animated demeanor during some of the calls. The video has no audio.

Authorities have said Bland -- a black 28-year-old from suburban Chicago -- hanged herself with a garbage bag, a finding that her family has questioned. She was in custody after purportedly assaulting the white state trooper who pulled her over, citing an improper lane change.

Her sister, Sharon Cooper, did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

On Monday, an initial toxicology report was released for Bland that two experts said raised the possibility that she may have used marijuana while in custody. Prosecutor Warren Diepraam has said information on marijuana use may be relevant to the case in determining her state of mind.

The amount of THC, an active components of marijuana, in Bland's system was 18 micrograms per liter, according to the report. That's more than three times the legal limit for drivers in Colorado and Washington, states that permit recreational marijuana use.

Capt. Brian Cantrell of the Waller County sheriff's office said Tuesday that he doesn't know whether she could have used marijuana in the jail. He said there's no recent history of inmate drug seizures but noted that things are smuggled into jails everywhere.

Information for this article was contributed by Jamie Stengle of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/29/2015

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