Houston grand jury indicts makers of surreptitious Planned Parenthood videos

The Houston Chronicle (Brian M. Rosenthal & Brian Rogers) reports:

Secret videographers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were both indicted on charges of tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

According to the Chronicle story, this charge might stem from Planned Parenthood’s allegation “that Daleiden and others used … fake government I.D.s”; the “tampering with governmental record” law makes it a crime for anyone to “make[], present[], or use[] any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record.” The second-degree felony version also requires proof that the defendant intended “to defraud or harm another.”

Note that the 20-year sentence is just the maximum for second-degree felonies; I doubt that the typical sentence in such cases is quite that high. (See, e.g., Tottenham v. State.) In Texas and a few other states, sentences are generally set by juries.

The Chronicle story also reports that Daleiden was indicted for “offer[ing] to buy … a human organ,” which under Texas law includes “fetal tissue.”

I’m trying to get a copy of the indictment myself, but I haven’t yet seen it. I’ll post more when I learn more. Thanks to Jim Bell for the pointer.