WATCH ABOVE: Waller County officials Thursday released some new details about the death investigation of Sandra Bland.
The Waller County District Attorney’s office announced the findings of an autopsy conducted on the body of Sandra Bland — the African-American woman who was found dead in her jail cell three days after being arrested during a routine traffic stop in Prairie View, Texas.
Authorities said Bland had hanged herself with a plastic trash bag and the autopsy results revealed Thursday appear to indicate that was the case.
READ MORE: Sandra Bland arrest: Comparing dashcam footage to arrest video
Dienpraam did note there were “superficial abrasions” on her wrists that would be consistent with being handcuffed. Officer Brian Encinia, who aggressively confronted Bland after he pulled her over and she became defiant, can be heard physically struggling with her in dashcam video of the arrest. Bland can be heard shouting that Encinia was going to break her wrists.
Dienpraam added the ligature mark around her neck was “uniform and consistent” — something you see in a suicide not a violent death. The hyoid bone in her neck was intact and there were no injuries to her esophagus or trachea as would be expected in a violent struggle.
Bland’s family told ABC News they have asked for an independent autopsy, the results of which have not yet been released, and point to an array of inconsistencies in the case that are raising concerns about what happened during and after her arrest.
Among the inconsistencies were the police dashcam video of her arrest, booking documents and a questionnaire about her physical and mental health.
The video of Bland’s arrest
Dashcam video of Bland’s July 10 arrest only fuelled speculation authorities weren’t being forthright in the investigation of the 28-year-old woman’s death.
Skeptics said it was clear the video had been edited, but the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) said Wednesday the apparent blips and looping footage in the dashcam video of the arrest were the result of a technical glitch in the upload of the video; the department later replaced the video on YouTube.
READ MORE: Why some people think dashcam video of Sandra Bland’s arrest was edited
Was she suicidal?
Bland’s family and friends said that was not the case, but her apparent answers on a questionnaire at the time of booking tell a different story.
According to documents released by the Waller County Sheriff’s Department, Bland responded to a series of questions about her physical and mental health, including whether she suffered from depression or whether she had ever attempted suicide. She said yes to both and also to saying she had attempted suicide last year, by taking pills, after losing a baby, the documents show.
The inconsistencies exist between the handwritten and typewritten records, specifically the date of the attempted suicide. The typed copy of the suicide assessment reads the attempt happened in 2015, while on the handwritten form the year 2014 is written over top of the year 2015.
At the same time, the medical intake indicated she had not attempted suicide.
All of the documents list Elsa Magnus as the screening officer who completed the assessments.
Cannon Lambert, the attorney for Bland’s family, said she was “ecstatic” to start a new job at Prairie View A&M University, for which she had just moved to Texas from Chicago.
“Why is it that a 28-year-old woman who had received two job offers take her own life? Why would she call her mom in excitement about those jobs and take her own life?” CNN reported Cannon asking.
But in a video posted on her own Facebook page in April, Bland discusses having suffered from “a little bit of depression.”
READ MORE: Questions surround Sandra Bland’s death in Texas police custody
What other questions arise from the booking documents?
Sharon Cooper, Bland’s sister, told ABC’s George Stephanopolous Thursday one of the first things that stuck out to her was the times listed on the booking documents.
According to the booking sheet, posted on the L.A. Times website on Wednesday, officer Brian Encinio arrested Bland at 4:27 p.m.
What are people saying about her mugshot?
There is also skepticism surrounding the mugshot released by the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, with particular focus on the orange uniform Bland is seen wearing.
As Buzzfeed reported, many of the mugshots taken at the Waller County Sheriff’s Department show people in their own clothing rather than a uniform.
But, she’s by no means the only one to have donned the orange outfit — as seen in a tweet by Gretchen Atwood showing the mugshots of three men, all gathered from the website mugshots.com, who were booked in at the Waller County Sheriff’s Office.
Buzzfeed noted the three men who appear in the above tweet, along with the several others who appear on mugshots.com in orange uniforms, were booked on charges related to sexual assaults.
Buzzfeed’s Ryan Broderick wrote that he reached out to the Waller County Sheriff’s office for an explanation as to why Bland was in an orange uniform but did not get a response.
Global News also attempted to contact the Waller County Sheriff’s Office but the office could not be reached via either number provided on a July 14 press release regarding Bland’s death.
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