Anti-abortion activist's human organ purchase charge dropped

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Anti-abortion activist's human organ purchase charge dropped

Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press

Updated 9:29 pm, Tuesday, June 14, 2016

HOUSTON (AP) — A misdemeanor charge accusing an anti-abortion activist of trying to buy human organs while making an undercover video looking into Planned Parenthood practices has been dismissed, and his attorneys said Tuesday they are working to have a felony count the activist faces thrown out as well.

David Daleiden, 27, and fellow activist Sandra Merritt, 63, were each indicted in January on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record for allegedly using fake driver's licenses to conceal their identities while dealing with Planned Parenthood at a Houston clinic.

Daleiden was also indicted on the misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. Video footage from the two activists showed them posing as representatives of a company called BioMax, which purportedly procured fetal tissue for research. Planned Parenthood has said the fake company offered to pay the "astronomical amount" of $1,600 for organs from a fetus. The clinic said it never agreed to the offer.

But Harris County Criminal Court at Law Judge Diane Bull on Monday dismissed the misdemeanor count Daleiden faced, ruling the indictment was flawed because prosecutors had failed to make reference within the indictment to any exceptions to the law prohibiting the purchase or sale of human organs. Under the law, there are several exceptions including if fees were being paid to a doctor or hospital for their services.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Anti-abortion-activist-s-human-organ-purchase-8127372.php

[Ford_Prefect]

1. Bit by bit they are going to let them off?

Grant Scheiner, a Houston criminal defense attorney not connected to the case, said the misdemeanor count was dismissed on a technicality and prosecutors could easily refile the charge under a different cause number.
He called the decision to not refile the charge "very odd."
"Unless the prosecutor felt there was something wrong with the case, for example if one of the statutory exceptions did apply, then it would be very peculiar for the prosecutor not to refile," Scheiner said.

I smell a fix in the works.