A Victory of Sorts for Undercover Pro-Life Activists Against 'Politically Motivated Prosecution'
CBN News 06-22-2017
A California court dismissed 14 of the 15 criminal charges against two pro-life undercover investigators with the Center for Medical Progress.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra brought the charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for recording conversations they had with Planned Parenthood officials. Those tapes allegedly include discussions about the sale of aborted baby tissue and body parts by Planned Parenthood.
The Superior Court in San Francisco dropped the 14 charges, but left all of them open to amend. That means Becerra could change the charges and bring them again, or bring new charges against Daleiden and Merrit. The court also kept one charge against Merrit for allegedly conspiring to invade privacy.
Daleiden believes this legal battle has little to do with what he did, and everything to do with politics.
"This is a politically motivated prosecution," Daleiden told reporters Wednesday. "And this is discriminatory against pro-life Americans and a rally against Californians who happen to have a different point of view."
Becerra, the attorney who brought the charges, is also known for having close ties to Planned Parenthood. He reportedly received thousands of dollars from the abortion giant during his congressional election bids between 1998 and 2014
Even the Los Angeles Times' editorial board called out Becerra for his actions.
"It's disturbingly aggressive for Becerra to apply this criminal statute to people who were trying to influence a contested issue of public policy, regardless of how sound or popular that policy may be," the Los Angeles Times said in a statement. "The state doesn't need to threaten the pair with prison time."
