The lawyers for David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) filed on Thursday a motion to quash two indictments that were leveled against him, citing that there were leaks in the investigation and there was collusion between the Harris County District Attorney's office and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
Last January, the grand jury in Harris County, Texas indicted Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for using false identification and attempting to buy human organs, which could put them in jail for 20 years. The charges stemmed from CMP's undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood on the issue of sale of foetal body parts.
"The DA's office has chosen to wage a war on the pro-life movement. We believe there is clear evidence of Planned Parenthood actually colluding with and pushing the District Attorney's office to move forward with these indictments," said Jared Woodfill, one of Daleiden's lawyers, in a press conference on Thursday, according to LifeSite News.
The grand jury was convened at the request of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to investigate the alleged wrongdoings of Planned Parenthood on the sale of foetal body parts but instead, it indicted Daleiden and Merritt.
By the end of 2015, no action was taken by the grand jury against Planned Parenthood. Instead, a "hold over" order for the grand jury was drafted by the Harris County District Attorney's office but it did not specify any individual or case that would be investigated, according to the motion to quash.
On Jan. 15, Daleiden's lawyers received a letter from the National Abortion Federation that a video evidence covered by the temporary restraining order (TRO) on CMP videos was produced to the grand jury.
Daleiden believes that the federation was notified of the contents by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
It said Daleiden believes that throughout the instant grand jury proceeding, prosecutors provided evidence to the grand jury to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
After Daleiden was indicted, Planned Parenthood held a press conference in which Josh Schaffer, lawyer of Planned Parenthood, confirmed that he "explicitly pushed prosecutors" to charge Daleiden and Merritt, citing Daleiden's revelation of Merritt's identity in a deposition in a Los Angeles court.
However, Daleiden's deposition did not occur until Dec. 30, 2015, two weeks after the "hold over" order was entered and after the grand jury was sent home for the holidays.
In addition, Derek Foran, lawyer for the National Abortion Federation, told The New York Times that he "learned about the indictments in Texas about half an hour before they were publicly announced."
Daleiden's lawyers said the indictment is invalid as it was not rendered during the grand jury's original term.
The motion to quash stated that "the grand jury acted without proper authority" and that "prosecutors have systematically leaked grand jury proceedings to unauthorized persons."
These, it said, violated Daleiden's right to due process and caused him irreparable harm.
"The irregularities in the case were manifold," said Peter Breen, one of Daleiden's lawyers. "The abuses occurring during and after the grand jury's proceedings were in gross violation of Mr. Daleiden's right to due process under the Texas Constitution as well as his statutory rights," Breen said.
