Neither the hands nor the neck of Sandra Bland have injuries that are consistent with those found in cases of homicide, according to the newly released autopsy results.
Bland had marijuana in her system at the time of her death, as well as 30 cut marks on her left wrist that were at least two to four weeks old, Waller County Prosecutor Warren Diepraam said during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office, as you know, has listed the cause of death as hanging and the manner of death as a suicide, based upon the physical and pathological findings of their highly qualified assistant medical examiner in this case, which has been reviewed by Dr. [Dwayne] Wolf, who is second-in-command at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science,” Diepraam said.
“Some of the information that we are releasing today we feel compelled to release because of specific allegations from some individuals about the circumstances that occurred in the Waller County jail and/or on the streets of Prairie View, Texas” where Bland was arrested, Diepraam said.
“We have not asked for, nor do we intend to ask for, a second autopsy,” Diepraam said. “The family of Miss Bland… may have requested a second autopsy for themselves. That is with their purview and within their capabilities. We certainly would endorse them in whatever they want to do, and we hope that they will be as publicly disclosing with their information as we have been with ours.”
Bland’s family has vocally denied that she would have committed suicide in the jail, noting she was extremely excited to begin her new job at Prairie View A&M University.
