COLUMBUS, Miss. – A former Mississippi police officer is pleading not guilty to manslaughter in an October shooting that sparked community protests.
Canyon Boykin appeared Friday in Lowndes County Circuit Court after Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood's office secured an indictment against him. A judge set bail at $20,000 and Boykin was released.
The hearing was not in open court, but in the judge's chambers.
Boykin is accused of shooting 26-year-old Ricky Ball after a foot chase. Boykin, who is white, has said that he saw Ball, who was black, point a gun at him.
Ball's family has said the shooting was unjustified.
Studies show only a handful of officers are criminally charged in shootings each year nationwide and fewer are convicted.
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