{"id":222092,"date":"2020-04-18T11:31:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T16:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=222092"},"modified":"2020-04-17T16:02:35","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T21:02:35","slug":"planned-parenthood-investigator-sandra-merritt-motion-dismiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-investigator-sandra-merritt-motion-dismiss\/","title":{"rendered":"Undercover Planned Parenthood investigator Sandra Merritt files motion to dismiss felony charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Pro-life activist Sandra Merritt, who was instrumental in <\/span>exposing<\/span><\/a> Planned Parenthood\u2019s role in the trafficking of aborted baby body parts in a series of videos released beginning in 2015, has filed a motion to dismiss 10 criminal charges against her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Merritt\u2019s motion<\/a> to dismiss the ten charges, filed on April 13th, comes as the latest development in the state of California\u2019s years-long effort to prosecute Merritt and co-defendant David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP).\u00a0 In February, Merritt and Daleiden pleaded not guilty to ten felony counts, as Live Action News <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a>. Last year, Planned Parenthood-affiliated Judge William Orrick ordered Daleiden and CMP to pay $195,000 to the National Abortion Federation and an additional $870,000 in punitive damages to Planned Parenthood — a decision that Live Action founder and president Lila Rose <\/span>blasted<\/span><\/a> as \u201ca sad day when the justice system is manipulated by the rich and powerful to protect the guilty and punish the innocent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSandra Merritt did nothing wrong in this politically-motivated collusion between Planned Parenthood and the Attorney General, and every criminal charge against her should be dropped. All of these criminal charges should be dismissed,\u201d said Liberty Counsel\u2019s founder and chairman, Mat Staver, according to the group’s press release<\/a>. Leading the state of California\u2019s prosecution in recent years has been pro-abortion attorney general, Xavier Becerra, who has <\/span>long been supported<\/span><\/a>\u00a0politically by Planned Parenthood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A main feature of Merritt\u2019s <\/span>motion<\/span> for dismissal is the fact that the co-defendants went to great lengths to comply with state laws prohibiting surreptitious recording. Merritt\u2019s lawyers argue that Merritt and Daleiden complied with California Penal Code <\/span>Section 632<\/span><\/a>, which prohibits recording others but allows for exceptions for \u201ccommunication made in a public gathering\u201d or \u201cany other circumstance in which the parties to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be overheard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n