HOUSTON - LifeSiteNews is reporting that all charges have been dismissed against Center for Medical Progress investigators David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt.
Prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s office dropped the charges before the pair could pursue their legal motion to quash the charges at a hearing, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The two faced up to 20 years in prison for a felony count of tampering with a government record for using false identification to gain access to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), which is based in Houston.
Daleiden posed as “Robert Sarkis” and Sandra Merritt as “Susan Tennenbaum,” employees of the fictitious biological company Biomax.
There, they recorded officials discussing how they obtained “intact” fetal cadavers, used budget line items to dress up the remuneration Planned Parenthood received for aborted babies’ organs and tissue, and filmed the dissection of a child.
Illinois State Representative Peter Breen, who is a key attorney with the Thomas More Society, represented the pair in the Harris County courtroom Tuesday morning.
"Today's dismissal in Houston is a huge win for the First Amendment rights of undercover journalists," Breen said after the news. "David Daleiden used standard undercover journalism techniques and followed all applicable laws in doing so. This meritless and retaliatory prosecution should never have been brought.
"Planned Parenthood did wrong here, not David Daleiden."
Peter Breen, David Dalieden and Texas attorney
