Texas Authorities Release Details on Sandra Bland's Autopsy

Texas officials have released the autopsy report for a woman found dead in a county jail three days after a confrontation with an officer during a traffic stop.

The 11-page report released Friday corroborates findings detailed a day earlier by Waller County officials who said 28-year-old Sandra Bland committed suicide by hanging on July 13. Toxicology results are still pending.

The report by the Harris County medical examiner's office notes Bland used a slipknot to fashion a noose out of a plastic liner that was taken from a trash can.

Funeral services for Bland are scheduled for Saturday in suburban Chicago.

She was in Prairie View, about 50 miles northwest of Houston, for a job interview when she was stopped July 10 for a minor traffic infraction. Her exchange with a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper escalated to the point where she was handcuffed and thrown to the ground.

Her family has criticized the stop and her incarceration, adding that she was looking forward to a new job and wouldn't take her own life.

When Sandra Bland died in a small Texas jail last week, she became just the latest name on a long list of inmates whose deaths were determined to be suicides.

Bland's death following her arrest for a minor traffic violation added fresh fuel to the national debate over police use of force on blacks. It also focused new attention on the longstanding problem of inmates who take their own lives.

Studies show that suicide is the leading cause of death in jails after natural illness. In fact, inmates take their own lives three times more often than the average population.

The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics says that since 2000, the total number of jail suicides has remained fairly constant - around 300 a year.  (AP)