Mississippi grand jury indicts ex-police officer in killing of Ricky Ball

• Former officer Canyon Boykin fatally shot Ball last year during a traffic stop
• Manslaughter indictment against an officer is ‘highly unusual’

Matt Kessler in Oxford, Mississippi
Friday 9 September 2016 17.44 BST

A former police officer who shot and killed a 26-year-old black man in Columbus, Mississippi, has been indicted for manslaughter by a grand jury.

Before the finding Wednesday that Canyon Boykin is criminally liable for the death of Ricky Ball, police and community members had not reached agreement on key facts of the case, including whether Ball was armed at all.

There was no body camera or other video recording of the incident, making the indictment all the more surprising to observers.

“It’s highly unusual for a (Mississippi Bureau of Investigation case) to be taken to a grand jury and to result in a homicide indictment against a police officer,” said Philip Broadhead, director of the criminal appeals clinic at the University of Mississippi law school. Nationally, very few police shootings lead to criminal charges.

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