Following nearly a decade of courtroom battles and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, California prosecutors have agreed to drop all charges against pro-life activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, who were made famous for their 2015 staggered releases of videos showing Planned Parenthood was selling body parts.
On Monday, the Center for Medical Progress, which Daleiden leads, shared a press release, announcing: “the State of California reached an agreement with CMP founder and president David Daleiden and CMP undercover reporter Sandra Merritt to totally dismiss the the unprecedented video recording prosecution first launched by then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.”
The agreement—a negotiated settlement with zero punishment—is in exchange for a new “no contest” plea by Daleiden and Merritt on a single video recording charge. It involves no jail time, no fines, no admission of wrongdoing, and no probation. The new “no contest” plea—which cannot be used adversely—will be entered into judgment as a misdemeanor in 6 to 12 months, and then converted to a “not guilty” plea, dismissed, and expunged.
7 of the 14 video recording charges initially brought in this case were dismissed halfway through as unsupported by probable cause. Otherlitigation continues about the constitutionality of antiquated state video recording laws like California.
Commenting on his legal victory, Daleiden shared:
“After enduring 9 years of weaponized political prosecution, putting an end to the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris is a huge victory for my investigative reporting and for the public’s right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts. Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex.
Taking the San Francisco case off the board allows me to focus fully on CMP’s mission to report on the injustices of taxpayer-funded experiments on aborted babies and continue to expand our groundbreaking investigative reporting.
For their part, California spun it as a victory, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta insisting:
While the Trump Administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare. We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means.”
1 thought on “California Drops Charges Against Pro-life Activists at Center of Undercover ‘Planned Parenthood Sells Baby Parts’ Videos”
He should get a few million dollars of Kamala’s personal bank account for what that cackling anchor baby did to him; and her citizenship should be revoked and she should be detained in Guantanamo and her husband with her.
He should get a few million dollars of Kamala’s personal bank account for what that cackling anchor baby did to him; and her citizenship should be revoked and she should be detained in Guantanamo and her husband with her.