News

Judge formally dismisses Sandra Bland lawsuit after deal

By Associated Press

Sandra Bland died in the Waller County (Texas) jail after a traffic stop. | Family photo distributed by the Associated Press

HOUSTON — A federal judge has formally dismissed the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Sandra Bland, the Naperville woman who died last year in a Texas county jail days after her arrest by a state trooper for a traffic stop that became contentious.

The brief final judgment order signed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge David Hittner came after Bland family attorneys in September disclosed a $1.9 million settlement with the Texas Department of Public Safety, former trooper Brian Encinia and Waller County, about 50 miles northwest of Houston.

Bland’s lawyers told Hittner in a motion Monday that all claims were resolved.

Authorities have said the 28-year-old Bland killed herself in the jail three days after Encinia arrested her. A video from the July 2015 traffic stop provoked national outrage.

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Jim Gwinn, who has worked at Conn-Selmer for 11 years, works on a trombone at the factory in Elkhart, Indiana Wednesday, March 27, 2024. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Untitled design (25).png

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