Though dashcam footage shows that Bland has her phone in her hand during the confrontation with the trooper, officials never publicly released the footage.
Cannon Lambert, the attorney who represented the Bland family, said the video was not produced during discovery, which was done under seal, in their federal lawsuit.
“I’ve not seen it,” said Lambert, when shown the video by Brian Collister, chief reporter with the Investigative Network.
“If they had turned it over, I would have seen it, Brian. I’ve not seen that,” Lambert said when shown the video in his Chicago law office.
Lambert and Bland family members said the video takes them inside her car, where they can experience the confrontation and her arrest as if through Bland’s own eyes.
Bland was on the way to the grocery store when DPS Trooper Brian Encinia pulled her over for failing to use her turn signal when she changed lanes. The initial stop was recorded on dash cam.
Encinia asked Bland to stub out the cigarette she was smoking. She refused, and he opened her car door and threatened to drag her out.
At this point, Bland began recording Encinia with her cell phone just moments before Encinia pulls his Taser, points it at Bland and says, “I will light you up! Get out! Now!”
After the arrest, Encinia told authorities that he feared for his life and didn’t know what Bland could grab inside her car and purse.
“My safety was in jeopardy at more than one time,” Encinia told investigators.
Encinia was fired from the DPS and indicted by a grand jury for perjury, a charge that was later dropped when Encinia gave up his license and agreed to never work as a cop again.
No Waller County lawmen were indicted in connection with her jail cell death.
The Texas Rangers and Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Bland’s phone during their joint investigation and discovered her video two months after the traffic stop and her death. But Bland’s family says it was never given to them.
They filed a federal wrongful death suit against Waller County and Texas DPS. The suit was settled in 2016 for $1.9 million.
As part of the settlement, the Bland family was required to return all evidence given to them as part of the federal court proceedings. They say the cellphone footage was never part of the discovery they received.
Despite repeated attempts, still no comment from anyone with the Texas Attorney General's office, which represented DPS in the federal civil lawsuit filed by the Bland family.
DPS officials said they provided all the evidence required of them as part of the lawsuit. An investigative report mentions the cellphone video, but the mention is buried more than 60 pages into the document.
The Bland family's attorney said the video shows Encinia knew Bland wasn’t a threat.
“He sees exactly what’s in her hand,” Lambert said of the cellphone recording. “How can you tell me you don’t know what’s in her hand when you’re looking right dead at it. What did she do to make him feel his safety was in jeopardy? Nothing.”
In the video recording, Bland tells Encinia she has “a right to record.”
Encinia’s lawyer argued that dashcam video showed the trooper’s actions were justified.
“He gets upset but before that ever happened, we had seen her reach out of view on the passenger side,” attorney Chip Lewis said. “That is the impetus to get her out of the car.”
Special prosecutor Darrell Jordan told the Investigative Network that he did have the video. Because grand jury proceedings are secret, it’s unclear whether the video was shown to Waller County grand jurors.
In early 2015, Bland began posting videos on YouTube that she made with her phone, using the title, “Sandy Speaks.” She made videos often, discussing subjects such as officer-involved shootings of unarmed black men and compliance at traffic stops.
For Bland to have recorded some of her last moments before the downward spiral that ended in her death is not unexpected, but still jarring, her family said. They want the investigation into the arrest by the trooper re-opened.
“[The video] not only shows that [Encinia] lied, but that he really had no business even stopping her, period,” said Shante Needham. “And at the end of the day, he needs to go to jail.”
