--- description: The grand jury declined to take action against Planned Parenthood itself title: Texas Grand Jury Indicts 2 People Behind Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e75c957d917b38e/69885ca13c1639e1ab459011/planned-parenthood2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Courts](/tag/courts/) ## Courts Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Texas Grand Jury Indicts 2 People Behind Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2016 10:43 PM CUT  The Planned Parenthood logo is pictured outside a clinic in Boston, June 27, 2014. The Planned Parenthood logo is pictured outside a clinic in Boston, June 27, 2014.Dominick Reuter—Reuters by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2016 10:43 PM CUT Two people who were behind covertly-filmed videos of Planned Parenthood staff were indicted in a Texas court on Monday for [tampering with a governmental record](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-grand-jury-indicts-pair-behind-Planned-6782865.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop "undefined"). The footage, which purported to show Planned Parenthood employees discussing the sale of fetal tissue, prompted a probe into the healthcare organization when it surfaced several months ago. Instead, the evidence led a grand jury to believe that two of the people behind the videos, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, were themselves the ones who may have acted criminally, the Houston _Chronicle_ reports. “We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,” said District Attorney Devon Anderson. “As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.” **Read more:** [**Meet the Man Behind the Planned Parenthood Videos**](http://d "undefined") It was not clear what record the pair tampered with. Daleiden was also indicted on a misdemeanor over purchasing human organs. Planned Parenthood has said that Daleiden and others have used falsified government documents and invented tissue procurement companies to gain access healthcare providers in order to produce these anti-abortion videos, surreptitiously taping their conversations and editing the footage The Center for Medical Progress, the Daleiden-founded group behind the videos, did not immediately respond to request for comment. \[[_Houston Chronicle_](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-grand-jury-indicts-pair-behind-Planned-6782865.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4193294/planned-parenthood-videos-indictment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4193294/planned-parenthood-videos-indictment/"},"headline":"Texas Grand Jury Indicts 2 People Behind Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos","datePublished":"2016-01-25T22:43:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:25:55.824Z","description":"The judge was initially looking into criminal activity on behalf of Planned Parenthood","url":"https://time.com/4193294/planned-parenthood-videos-indictment/","keywords":["Courts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e75c957d917b38e/69885ca13c1639e1ab459011/planned-parenthood2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e75c957d917b38e/69885ca13c1639e1ab459011/planned-parenthood2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Planned Parenthood logo","caption":"The Planned Parenthood logo","creditText":"Dominick Reuter—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/courts/","name":"Courts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4193294/planned-parenthood-videos-indictment/","name":"Texas Grand Jury Indicts 2 People Behind Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: The Weakening Pro-Choice Movement","description":"Abortion-rights activists won an epic victory in Roe v. 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