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Brian Encinia, the Texas State Trooper who arrested Sandra Bland ahead of her mysterious death in Waller County last July, has been charged with perjury. The grand jury in the case indicted Encinia after observing that he didn’t tell the complete truth around how he handled Bland’s arrest and removal from her car.

KHOU reports:

A Waller County grand jury has indicted DPS Trooper Brian Encinia for perjury. He’s the trooper who pulled over Sandra Bland.

Prosecutors say the trooper lied in a written report about the traffic stop.

Encinia could get up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted.

Dash cam video shows the traffic stop in which Trooper Brian Encinia pulled Bland over for an improper lane change near Prairie View A&M University. The traffic stop escalates, and there is a struggle before Bland is taken into custody.

The indictment was for a misdemeanor count, which is why the fine and jail time was set low as it was. Some observers were struck by the decision, noting that the same Waller County grand jury didn’t move last month to indict any of the sheriff’s officials or employees of the jail where Bland died over the summer.

Encinia, a white man, pulled Bland over for an improper lane change near Prairie View A&M University, Bland’s alma mater and was soon to be her latest place of employment. Video from Encinia’s Dashcam reveals that the situation was handled poorly from the onset and scaled out of control.

The officer was found later to have violated policies related to professionalism set by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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