A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Friday that nine of the state’s 15 felony charges against undercover journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, in a prosecution initiated by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris, have enough evidence to proceed to a criminal trial. The judge dropped the other six charges.
Daleiden and Merritt, citizen journalists with the Center for Medical Progress, were charged with 14 felony counts of illegal taping of confidential information (eavesdropping) and one count of conspiracy, in which they exposed the illegal activity of Planned Parenthood and the human tissue procurement company StemExpress. The case marks the first time charges of eavesdropping have ever been made in California.
After Friday’s ruling, Daleiden said Harris’ case continues to fall apart as facts about Planned Parenthood’s criminal organ trafficking are revealed in the courtroom.
“The remaining charges under the California video recording law—the first and only time it has ever been used against undercover news gatherers—will fall for the same reasons that 5 charges were dismissed today: these were public conversations easily overheard by third parties,” Daleiden said.