California Court Dumps 14 of 15 Charges Against 2 Probers Who Linked Planned Parenthood to Sale of Baby Parts
In a major victory for the pro-life camp, a California court dismissed 14 of the 15 criminal charges against two pro-life undercover investigators who recorded undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood selling body parts from aborted babies.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed the 15 felony charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) on March 28, according to The Washington Times.
At that time, pro-life advocates said the 15 felony charges Becerra filed were fraudulent and only meant to undermine the truth that was exposed by Daleiden and Merritt, LifeNews reported.
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It was revealed that Becerra is a long-time abortion advocate with links to the Planned Parenthood abortion company linked to the illegal and inhuman activities uncovered by the two defendants.
The San Francisco Superior Court last month dismissed 14 of the 15 criminal counts against Daleiden and Merritt, but the two are still charged with one count of conspiracy to invade privacy, according to CBN News.
Morever, the court gave the prosecutor the opportunity to amend the charges and provide more evidence against the two CMP workers.
Judge Christopher Hite gave the state attorney general's office until mid-July to file a revised complaint.
Nevertheless, pro-life attorney Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, representing Merritt, described the court's verdict as "a huge victory."
"We will now turn our attention to dismissing the final count. Sandra Merritt did nothing wrong. The complaint by the California Attorney General is unprecedented and frankly will threaten every journalist who provides valuable information to the public. This final count will also fall," Staver said.
Daleiden sees politics behind the court's decision.
"This is a politically motivated prosecution," Daleiden told reporters Wednesday.
Daleiden first accused the prosecutor of coming up with "bogus charges" when he was dragged to court in March. "The bogus charges from Planned Parenthood's political cronies are fake news," he said at that time, according to The Washington Times. "They tried the same collusion with corrupt officials in Houston, Texas and failed: both the charges and the DA were thrown out."
The CMP published 12 secretly recorded videos in 2015 showing top Planned Parenthood officials and others in the abortion industry discussing the sale of fetal tissue from abortions.
