Houston prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge against pro-life activist David Daleiden who had released a series of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood staff allegedly discussing the sale of aborted baby body parts.
Daleiden, founder of Center for Medical Progress, was indicted by the Harris County grand jury on misdemeanor charges for pretending to place a bid on the baby organs as part of his investigative journalism.
However, Judge Diane Bull of County Court at Law in Texas dismissed the charge, saying that it was a "defective indictment" owing to its failure to negate the exception in Penal Code Section 48.02.
"The Harris County prosecutors were in such a rush to criminalize David Daleiden that they did not properly obtain grand jury approval of each of the elements of the charged misdemeanor," said Peter Breen, one of Daleiden's lawyers from the Thomas More Society. "All charges against Daleiden and his investigators should be dismissed, based on the evidence that Harris County District Attorney's prosecutors colluded with Planned Parenthood to secure these indictments.
Apart from the misdemeanor charge, Daleiden also faces a felony charge for making a fake driver's license to attend Planned Parenthood meetings, which Daleiden says he did in his capacity as an undercover journalist. His associate Sandra Merritt was also indicted on the same charge, which carries a maximum 20-year prison penalty.
After the videos were released last year, about twenty states ordered investigation into the internal practices of Planned Parenthood but most of the affiliates were cleared or the investigation was not pursued further.
"The people behind this fraud lied and broke the law in order to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda," said Melaney A. Linton, CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. "It's become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we will allow the court to hold them accountable."
However, CMP alleged that the indictments against Daleiden and his associate were politically motivated.
"The DA's office has chosen to wage a war on the pro-life movement," Daleiden's attorney, Jared Woodfill, told the Houston Chronicle. "We believe there is clear evidence of Planned Parenthood actually colluding with and pushing the district attorney's office to move forward with these indictments."
Planned Parenthood's lawyer, Josh Schaeffer, admitted that he worked with a prosecutor in District Attorney Devon Anderson's office to do an "end run" in relation to the charges against Daleiden. He also worked with them to seize the complete footage of the video recordings on behalf of Planned Parenthood.
"The recent filings by the Harris County District Attorney confirm that the DA shared confidential documents and information with abortion provider Planned Parenthood," said Breen.
