In June, a Texas Judge, Diane Bull, dismissed a misdemeanor charge against investigative journalist David Daleiden, calling the indictment “void on its face.”
Last summer, Daleiden released videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in aborted baby body parts. Daleiden, an undercover journalist with the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), has nearly a decade of experience in conducting investigative research on the abortion industry. He and colleague Sandra Merritt released 11 videos showing them discussing the procurement of aborted baby brains, lungs, livers, hearts, and lower extremities with Planned Parenthood executives to sell to medical researchers.
Five months after the videos were released, Daleiden and Merritt were charged with a felony (for using California identification to enter the PP facility) and a misdemeanor (for allegedly offering to purchase fetal tissue). A Harris County (Texas) grand jury, led by Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson, indicted Daleiden on charges of trafficking human body parts. Daleiden turned down a plea deal, calling the indictments a “politically-motivated sham.”
District Attorney Anderson has a history of colluding with the Texas abortion industry, including failing to prosecute an abortionist known as “the Kermit Gosnell of Houston.” A Planned Parenthood board member works as an assistant DA in Anderson’s office and her political campaign received $25,000 from the attorney who works for a late-term abortionist. Daleiden’s attorney charged that Planned Parenthood’s legal team “explicitly pushed prosecutors” to indict Daleiden. Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s attorney Josh Schaffer admitted in a sworn declaration that Anderson’s office undermined the independent investigation by sharing evidence with Planned Parenthood.
On June 14, Texas Judge Diane Bull dismissed District Attorney Anderson’s bogus misdemeanor charge. Anderson’s office has indicated it will not appeal the dismissal. Daleiden still faces the felony charge.
“The dismissal of the first indictment today sends a strong message to Planned Parenthood and their political cronies that colluding to suppress the First Amendment rights of citizen journalists will never work,” explained the CMP.
