The makers of the videos that exposed Planned Parenthood’s fetal trafficking program only to get indicted by a Texas grand jury (for fetal trafficking!) turned down a plea bargain that would have effectively ended the criminal charges. They are insisting on their day in court.
From Brian Rogers, Planned Parenthood videographers reject plea deal, head to trial in Houston – Houston Chronicle:
Anti-abortion activists accused of falsifying records to secretly videotape Planned Parenthood officials in Houston have rejected a plea deal that would have effectively put an end to criminal charges against them, their lawyers confirmed Friday.
David Robert Daleiden, 27, and his colleague, Sandra Susan Merritt, 63, both of California, are prepared to go to trial to fight the charges, their attorneys said. . . .
The pair were charged in January with tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony with a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Daleiden was also charged with a misdemeanor charge of attempting to buy human organs.
After a brief status hearing Friday in court, attorneys said they will not accept offers of pretrial diversion, a low-level probation that would have allowed the charges against them to be dismissed if they did not break the law for a year.
It is commonly offered by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to first offenders with minor charges, such as shoplifting. . . .
Daleiden and Merritt are accused of using fake driver’s licenses to hide their identity in dealings with the women’s health organization.
The grand jury also charged Daleiden with the same misdemeanor he had accused the organization of – the purchase or sale of human organs, presumably because he had offered to buy organs in an attempt to provoke Planned Parenthood employees into saying they would sell.
The grand jury had been convened to investigate whether a Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast clinic had sold the organs of aborted fetuses. The grand jury cleared the clinic and instead indicted the undercover videographers.
[Keep reading. . .]
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