HEMPSTEAD, Texas — A fired Texas trooper pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of misdemeanor perjury stemming from his arrest in the summer of a black woman later found dead in Waller County jail.
A grand jury indicted Brian Encinia in January on the perjury charge for saying in an affidavit that he removed a combative Sandra Bland, 28, of Naperville, Ill., from her car July 10 after stopping her near Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, for a failing to signal a lane change. He had said he needed Bland out of the car so he could conduct a safer traffic investigation.
The traffic stop escalated, and there was a struggle before Bland was taken into custody.
Bland spent all weekend in jail and was found dead in her cell three days later. No one was indicted in connection with her death, which later was ruled a suicide.
Her arrest captured on a police dashcam video provoked national outrage. Her relatives have filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Encinia, who formally was fired March 3, will have his next court hearing May 17, said his lawyer, Larkin Eakin.
