All Charges Dropped Against CMP’s David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt in Planned Parenthood Case
The Harris County District Attorney’s office dismissed all remaining charges against the Center for Medical Progress’ founder David Daleiden and pro-life advocate and investigator Sandra Merritt Tuesday. Daleiden and Merritt were charged with tampering with a governmental record for allegedly using fake identification to access Planned Parenthood’s facilities while filming Planned Parenthood undercover in an effort to expose the abortion giant’s profiting from the sale of aborted fetuses’ body parts.
Daleiden expressed his reaction to the ruling:
The dismissal of the bogus, politically motivated charges … is a resounding vindication of the First Amendment rights of all citizen journalists, and also a clear warning to any of Planned Parenthood’s political cronies who would attack whistleblowers to protect Planned Parenthood from scrutiny. Planned Parenthood tried to collude with public officials to manipulate the legal process to their own benefit, and they failed. A year after the release of the undercover videos, the ongoing nationwide investigation of Planned Parenthood by the House Select Investigative Panel makes clear that Planned Parenthood is the guilty party in the harvesting and trafficking of baby body parts for profit.
On June 13, 2016, Harris County, Texas judge Diane Bull dismissed the misdemeanor charge against Daleiden for “intentionally and knowingly offer[ing] to buy human organs, namely, fetal tissue, for valuable consideration.” The July 26 dismissal dropped the remaining charges for the two investigators for allegedly using fake IDs to gain access to Planned Parenthood’s facilities for undercover filming.
Collusion between the Harris County DA’s office and Planned Parenthood led to the dismissal, reported LifeNews. Daleiden’s attorney Peter Breen, who countered a plea deal with evidence of the collusion, said that the Harris County DA’s office shared confidential information with Planned Parenthood, against orders from the Texas Attorney General’s office to do so. “These filings … include evidence that appears to show that the DA’s office worked with Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast to undermine the Texas Attorney General’s independent investigation of that abortion provider,” he said. “The conduct of Harris County prosecutors in this case is outrageous and illegal.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America celebrates the win for the pro-life movement. “David Daleiden is a hero, and we are thrilled that these scam indictments have rightly been tossed,” she said in a statement to LifeNews. “This is a huge win for all citizen journalists whose First Amendment rights were upheld today.”