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In Sandra Bland Case, Audio Tapes Reveal Investigators Asked Inmates About Marijuana Over And Over

(CBS) -- Newly released tapes raise new questions in the death of Sandra Bland, the Chicago woman who died last year in a Texas jail cell.

Her family said what they didn't hear on those tapes is shocking, CBS 2's Brad Edwards reports.

Bland's arresting officer is now charged with a misdemeanor.

Authorities say Bland hung herself in her jail cell. They say she had marijuana in her system, but said the death would be investigated as a homicide.

Bland's attorney just received of audio interviews of inmates near Bland.

"I know that the trag...I call it the tragedy you know, it happened on Monday," one inmate told a detective.

"At any time did you smell marijuana?" the detective asked.

The detective proceeded to ask only about marijuana over and over.

"The only thing that they asked about was marijuana," said Cannon Lambert Sr., the Bland family's attorney. "They didn't ask about any conflicts with any guards, whether or not she had eaten anything, what her emotional state was. There were so many things they could have and frankly should have asked about, but that they didn't. When you see this is what they consider to be a full investigation, it is scary."

Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, also heard the tapes.

"After I heard, I said, 'Ok, where's the rest of it?'" she said.

Reed-Veal said she is also concerned about what she claimed is stonewalling by authorities in Texas.

"And then, so you want me to believe what I haven't received, and just say it's ok?" Reed-Veal said. "No, I have a baby in the ground who in a few days would have been 29. I'm not going to stop until I find out what happened to her."

This is now a federal suit. CBS 2 called authorities in Texas to see what they had to say about the one-note interviews. We left messages and haven't heard back.

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