Last charge dropped against anti-abortion duo behind videos

According to attorney for Daleiden, District Attorney Devon Anderson shared confidential information with the abortion business, which she was supposed to be investigating for running afoul of state laws prohibiting the purchase or sale of body parts form aborted babies.

Final charges were dropped Tuesday against two Houston anti-abortion activists in a Planned Parenthood case that has been a national seed of controversy since January.

The February indictments of Daleiden, 27, by the Harris County, Texas, District Attorney’s office had come after a grand jury originally assembled to investigate Daleiden’s charges that abortion clinics were illegally profiting from sales of fetal research tissues. The pro-life activists insist that they acted legally in filming Planned Parenthood employees and associates. The duo additionally created fake corporate credentials and tax records to carry out their “investigation” that ultimately culminated in the widely-criticized videos edited and spliced together to create the impression Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue in violation of federal law.

Hopefully this is one step closer toward the pro-life community holding the real culprit accountable. The video was of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s Director of Research Melissa Farrell.

Daleiden’s lawyers wanted the charges dismissed because they allege the grand jury exceeded its authority.

The expanded lawsuit stated that anti-abortion activists engaged in an elaborate, illegal conspiracy in order to block women’s access to safe and legal abortion. The grand jury cleared Plantned Parenthood of any wrongdoing.

An attorney for the pair called it “a huge win for First Amendment rights”, NPR’s Jennifer Ludden reports. Merritt and Daleidin each faced a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The indictment against David Daleiden was also dismissed. The county prosecutor’s office requested the dismissal.

Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune.

Daleiden and Merritt, 63, were also both charged with tampering with government records. Video and court records obtained by the Los Angeles Times show activists coached an interview subject, and attempted to ply abortion providers with alcohol.

Planned Parenthood has said Daleiden and Merritt presented fake IDs in April 2015 and posed as research executives from a fictitious company to secretly film conversations at a health and administrative center in Houston.