My sweet baboo would never do that

[vaskidmark]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sandra-bland-family-files-wrongful-death-suit-naming-trooper-other-n403846

The suit, filed in federal court in Houston, claims that the trooper was reckless in pulling Bland from her car, and that jailers showed a "conscious disregard" for her safety. It holds the county and state Department of Public Safety liable for her death.

Authorities ruled that Bland hanged herself in her cell, but her relatives have disputed the finding. They also say state and county officials have withheld information from them.

Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland's mother, told reporters she still is not sure what happened in the cell, but she said her sense as a mother "is telling me that she did not do that."

Somebody does something that their family thought they would never do.  What's the best way to respond to that, especially when you admit you are not sure what happened or why?

I'll make it a true daily double, Alex.  What's "file a federal lawsuit"?

Somebody's got to be responsible but it can't be me/my family member/my friend because that would mean that I am/they are not pure as the driven snow and completely rational at all times.  It just has to be someone else's fault.

It's not by any stretch the first time someone has filed a lawsuit because their sweet baboo did something that had a bad outcome.  This is just thje first time I can recall that the person filing the lawsuit has openly said "I don't know what happened but I want someone else to be responsible".

stay safe.

[Tallpine]

Have you seen the video yet     

She was arrested for "smoking inside her car" after getting a warning for failure to signal a lane change.

[vaskidmark]

I thought she was arrested for kicking the cop after he dragged her out.  The "smoking inside her car" (while the cop was dealing with her) was merely a contempt of cop issue the way I heard things.

stay safe.

[wmenorr67]

Wasn't there a report that stated she had battled depression in the past and maybe even a previous suicide attempt?

[Tallpine]

I thought she was arrested for kicking the cop after he dragged her out.  The "smoking inside her car" (while the cop was dealing with her) was merely a contempt of cop issue the way I heard things.

stay safe.

There was no farking reason for him to order her out of the car.  He was just being a power tripping @$$ because she said she had the right to smoke in her car.  Trouble with cops now is that they can never de-escalate once they've screwed up.  Their "authority" must never be questioned 

After he asked what was wrong and she politely answered, he could have just said something like: "okay, ma'am - I understand your frustration but a lot of people don't ever bother to signal which can be dangerous.  Next time try to remember to signal even if you have to change lanes in a hurry."

The trooper is at least indirectly responsible for her death because she never should have been in jail.  Injustice piled on injustice: I can see how that might cause someone to take their own life.

What a messed up damn police state we live in     It's depressing 

[KD5NRH]

After he asked what was wrong and she politely answered, he could have just said something like: "okay, ma'am - I understand your frustration but a lot of people don't ever bother to signal which can be dangerous.  Next time try to remember to signal even if you have to change lanes in a hurry."

That wasn't exactly a hurried lane change, nor was there anything close that she would have needed to change lanes quickly for.  She hadn't turned by the time she was stopped (shadows still pointing to camera left) so obviously she wasn't rushing to get over for a right turn.

Then again, I've had one pull me over and threaten to write unsafe lane change and failure to signal because I swerved around a trash bag that fell out of a truck in front of me.  After he figured out that thing stuck to my windshield was a camera, he decided a verbal warning was plenty.  AFAICT, the real reason he was mad was that he was tailgating me and had to swerve hard to miss the same bag.  Dummy could have gone after the truck instead, but I was closer.

[Tallpine]

That wasn't exactly a hurried lane change, nor was there anything close that she would have needed to change lanes quickly for. 

The trooper car.  Right behind.  That's why she changed lanes quickly.

She probably thought that he was in a hurry to get to the donut shop and wanted to get out of his way.

[KD5NRH]

The trooper car.  Right behind.  That's why she changed lanes quickly.

She probably thought that he was in a hurry to get to the donut shop and wanted to get out of his way.

Oh don't get me wrong; pretty much any time I see a cop behind me I get out of his lane if possible, but I do make a point of signaling.

Of course, if she'd been keeping right except to pass or prepare for a left turn in the first place, she wouldn't have been in the way and she'd still be alive today.

[vaskidmark]

Wasn't there a report that stated she had battled depression in the past and maybe even a previous suicide attempt?

Yes.  As best I an follow the record she admitted to a previous suicide attempt once and twice denied ever having been suicidal.  Suicide watch, even via video, eats up personnel.  Given the ambiguity of her statements I can understand why she was not put is a stripped cell clothed in an anti-suicide gown and checked even every 15 minutes.  Not necessarily condoning it, but able to see why.

For 2+ days she was checked on at a minimum 6 times a day - meals, just before lights out and some time in the middle of the night, with no indication of despondency or suicidal ideation.  Is there going to be a new requirement for a mental health evaluator for every prisoner?  If so, how often?  (Unless you are going to go by "Do you feel like offing yourself?" as an evaluation it's going to take at least 5 minutes per prisoner.)  Will the taxpayers stand for three full-time BA-level MH techs, which still creates a huge liability exposure due to the low level of education, training, and experience?

The trooper is at least indirectly responsible for her death because she never should have been in jail.  Injustice piled on injustice: I can see how that might cause someone to take their own life.

All of the reasons why she should never have been pulled over or ordered/taken out of the vehicle aside, actions have consequences and assaulting a police officer has never been shown to have a good consequence.

Some cops are megalomaniacs and should be culled.  Most cops are complicit accomplices before, during and after the fact for not standing up and reporting those who are out of control.  But none of that changes the fact that folks are going to have to learn that for their own safety if for no other reason that the place to argue with a cop is in the courtroom.   It's going to be that way until enough cops are found to have violated rights that the taxpayers get tired of paying for their behavior and the courts stop allowing qualified immunity to be a universal shield.  At some point the fictional "reasonable employee" should be expected to know what the settled law is and follow it.

But to get back to the original point - at some point folks are going to have to stop looking for someone else to blame for everything that happens and recognize that they are responsible for their circumstances.

stay safe.

[Tallpine]

Oh don't get me wrong; pretty much any time I see a cop behind me I get out of his lane if possible, but I do make a point of signaling.

Of course, if she'd been keeping right except to pass or prepare for a left turn in the first place, she wouldn't have been in the way and she'd still be alive today.

It was more or less a city street, not a freeway, and just past an intersection.  IIRC, there may have been a right turn lane coming in from the side street, and the right lane may not have been such that you could drive straight through the intersection.  Seems like there was some sort of "triangle" curbing where the side street turned onto the street they were on.  I'd have to watch the first part again to confirm that.

All of the reasons why she should never have been pulled over or ordered/taken out of the vehicle aside, actions have consequences and assaulting a police officer has never been shown to have a good consequence.

It's not clear to me that any such assault ever happened because he immediately took her out of the view of the dash cam.

The only thing I ever saw her assault was the cop's authority to give ridiculous orders to an already upset woman.

Actions have consequences for cops too 

[MechAg94]

IMO, the cop is responsible for an improper or unlawful arrest.  He is not responsible for her death, directly or indirectly.  Holding him responsible for the death is the type of liability only lawyers would love.  You might as well hold the patrol officer responsible for whatever happens to any person arrested after they are booked into jail.  Were they beaten by other prisoners?  Patrol officer is guilty.  Were they mistreated by jailors?  Patrol officer is guilty.  IMO, that is carrying the emotional argument and need to hold someone responsible way too far.  


You screw up and rear end someone damaging their bumper.  Later that day, on the way to get it repaired, they get in another wreck and are killed.  Are you responsible for their death?  If you hadn't hit their bumper, they wouldn't have been heading to the shop.

[RoadKingLarry]

Wasn't there a report that stated she had battled depression in the past and maybe even a previous suicide attempt?

She also had recent, partially healed cuts on her arms. From what I've read about her she was a loosely tied bag of nuts with bad seams waiting for a place to come apart.

[Scout26]

Whenever we put someone into the D-cell, in addition to removing anything they could use to harm themselves (belts, shoelaces, etc.) we had to place an MP there to watch them.  (Yes, soldiers in the past had committed suicide while being held).  Most of those brought to the MP station sat on the benches in the hallway while they waited for their chain of command to show up.

And yes, the officer failed to de-escalate the situation.  She was arrested for contempt of cop.  And unless and until police officers are personally held responsible for their actions, they will continue to violate the rights of the public.   

[MechAg94]

And unless and until police officers are personally held responsible for their actions, they will continue to violate the rights of the public.   

Agreed, as long as it is for the actual rights violation.

However, in order to hold them accountable, there are laws and court rulings that need to be addressed that make those rights violations possible/legal.

[vaskidmark]

Santa Anna cops want video evidence excluded because they had an "expectation of privacy" 

Remember the Santa Ana, California, cops who were caught on video munching on what seem to be cannabis-infused chocolate bars after raiding an unlicensed medical marijuana dispensary in May? The Orange County Register reports that three officers who were suspended after the incident are trying to stop the Santa Ana Police Department from using the footage in its internal investigation. Among other things, their lawsuit argues that the officers thought they had disabled all of the security cameras at Sky High Holistic and therefore had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The cops complain that the dispensary never got their permission to record them as they searched the premises.
Think real hard about that.  And consider the level of stupid and arrogant behind this.

http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/08/santa-ana-cops-claim-they-had-an-expectation-of-privacy-during-questionable-raid-on-pot-shop-caught-on-video/

And the background

http://ktla.com/2015/06/11/video-of-santa-ana-police-pot-shop-raid-shows-officers-eating-edibles-attorney-says/

This has nothing to do with the original post's thought, but clearly follows the thread drift perfectly.

stay safe.

[Tallpine]

I'm sure not real happy that my daughter and her family live about 60 miles from where this took place - or anywhere in Texas. 

Hopefully he will finish his degree with TX A&M in a couple years and they will move on to somewhere else.

[KD5NRH]

I'm sure not real happy that my daughter and her family live about 60 miles from where this took place - or anywhere in Texas.

Houston is sort of its own weird enclave of discord.  Austin is at least consistently liberal, while Houston is more or less chaotic; you have a lot of Katrina refugees who stayed to enlarge the welfare class liberal population, execs of major companies working the oilfields via the Port that came in from Chicago and other corrupt liberal breeding grounds, all mixed in with a pretty conservative middle class and some hard line conservative upper class.  Ultimately, it's just a frickin' mess.

The rest of us view the Houston metro area as some far away place that's fun to visit very briefly, (just long enough to tour the Texas, wander the San Jacinto battleground, check out the Moody Center, check out the bikini babes in Galveston and maybe do a little shopping) but nobody in their right mind would live within an hour of it.  Think of it as Houston metro being to Texas what NYC is to the rest of New York.

[Tallpine]

Houston is sort of its own weird enclave of discord.  Austin is at least consistently liberal, while Houston is more or less chaotic; you have a lot of Katrina refugees who stayed to enlarge the welfare class liberal population, execs of major companies working the oilfields via the Port that came in from Chicago and other corrupt liberal breeding grounds, all mixed in with a pretty conservative middle class and some hard line conservative upper class.  Ultimately, it's just a frickin' mess.

The rest of us view the Houston metro area as some far away place that's fun to visit very briefly, (just long enough to tour the Texas, wander the San Jacinto battleground, check out the Moody Center, check out the bikini babes in Galveston and maybe do a little shopping) but nobody in their right mind would live within an hour of it.  Think of it as Houston metro being to Texas what NYC is to the rest of New York.

They live up north of Bryan/College Station a little ways.

I checked the map, and Hempstead looked like a "small" town that Houston just happened to have grown out fairly close to. 

The deceased lady was from Chicago but didn't appear to be typical ghetto trash.  She had graduated from college and had come back to work for that college in some capacity (don't remember now).