Sandra Bland's Family Lawyer Says Jailer Admitted to Not Checking on Her, Falsifying Logs

Sandra Bland's family lawyer said that a former Waller County, Texas, jail guard admitted under oath that he did not check on Bland in the hour before she was found dead and falsified the log saying that he did, the Houston Chronicle reported.

However, Waller County's legal representation says that's a "misrepresentation" of the truth. 

"Numerous depositions have been taken in the case involving dozens of hours of testimony," lawyer Larry Simmons said in a written statement to the Houston Chronicle. "It is a gross miscarriage of justice and a misrepresentation for any party to cherry-pick or mischaracterize a small portion of that testimony, and take it out of context."

According to the Chronicle, a source familiar with the state's investigation into Bland's death, which was ruled a suicide, said that prosecutors knew about the falsified records. The source also said the Waller County guard who filled out the log was following instructions to log future checks after making rounds. 

Depending on the circumstances, penalties for tampering with a government document ranges from a misdemeanor to a felony in Texas. 

Bland was found dead on July 13, 2015, while in police custody. Three days prior, police had pulled her over for a minor traffic violation. Her death ignited a media firestorm and several protests and actions from the Black Lives Matter movement. 

In December, a grand jury chose not to indict anyone in relation to her death. 

Read more: