Pro-Life Activist's Lawyers Ask Court to Throw Out Indictments

Attorneys for pro-life activist David Daleiden are asking the court to dismiss the two indictments against their client in what they call the "Houston grand jury debacle."

Daleiden charges that a Texas district attorney colluded with Planned Parenthood to secure the indictments in January. His attorneys also claim the grand jury wasn't empaneled properly, according to the Houston Chronicle.

District Attorney Devon Anderson insists her office was led by the evidence.

Daleiden made undercover videos at Planned Parenthood clinics allegedly implicating officials in arranging the illegal sale of fetal tissue to researchers for profit.u

The grand jury claims Daleiden used a fake driver's license to hide his identity. He's charged with a felony, second-degree record tampering, and a misdemeanor, attempting to buy human organs.

Attorneys with the Thomas More Society, a national non-profit law firm, are also helping to defend Daleiden. The organization says the grand jurors "jumped the track."

"The irregularities in the case were manifold," Special counsel Peter Breen said. "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 the grand jury did not have the proper authority to take the actions it did. He also said prosecutors broke the law by methodically leaking information to people who were not authorized.

Meanwhile, Students for Life of America held a rally this week in Sacramento calling for the resignation of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who they claim targeted Daleiden by seizing the videos he created. Local and national pro-life leaders attended the rally.

In July, Harris said she planned to examine the undercover videos to see if Daleiden's organization, The Center for Medical Progress, went against any state charity registration or requirements related to reporting.

Daleiden says California Department of Justice agents raided his California home earlier this month and confiscated a series of undercover videos.

The agents "seized all video footage showing Planned Parenthood's criminal trade in aborted baby parts, in addition to my personal information," Daleiden wrote in a Facebook post.

"Attorney General Harris wasted the tax dollars of Californians by sending 11 agents into the one-bedroom studio apartment of David Daleiden, the founder of The Center for Medical Progress," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said at the rally.

Watch the protest below:

"Attorney General Harris treated David like a common criminal, as if he were a drug dealer, not the citizen journalist that he is," she said.

"Planned Parenthood, and others in the abortion industry, are supporters of Harris and her Senate campaign," a Students for Life of America news release states. "She is soliciting signatures on a petition on her Senate website in support (of) Planned Parenthood."

Rachele Huennekens, a spokeswoman for Harris, said she is not able to comment on any ongoing investigation.