The two-week preliminary criminal hearing continued yesterday in the San Francisco Superior Court with testimony from abortionists, as Sandra Merritt defends against 15 felony charges brought against her by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Liberty Counsel is defending Merritt for her undercover journalism work which exposed Planned Parenthood’s trade in baby body parts.
Merritt and David Daleiden interviewed “Doe 9,” a Planned Parenthood doctor, in a public restaurant. The video was played in court yesterday. When questioned by the attorney general’s office, “Doe 9” stated that StemExpress had cornered the Northern California market for baby body parts. However, “we have an affiliate in Orlando that goes to 20 weeks” and they could expect to pay $30-$100 “per specimen.”
On cross examination, Liberty Counsel Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel Horatio Mihet questioned “Doe 9” whether she was concerned that the tape had been made public. When “Doe 9” answered “yes,” he presented her with a transcript of her deposition from Planned Parenthood’s civil case against the Center for Medical Progress, where she said, “I haven’t done anything wrong in the videos. It doesn’t matter to me if they’re released publicly.”
Liberty Counsel Attorney Nicolai Cocis also questioned “Doe 3,” a retired late-term abortionist filmed at the 2014 National Abortion Federation’s conference, about whether a passerby could hear their conversation. “Doe 3” stated she did not feel the need to lower her voice or take privacy precautions at the conference. Cocis played a clip of that video, pausing every time a stranger entered the frame. However, “Doe 3” admitted that some people walking past may have been close enough to hear snippets.
Incidentally, “Doe 3,” appeared in the 2013 documentary “After Tiller,” a film about the only four remaining doctors in the United States who openly perform late-term abortions.
The preliminary hearing continues today as Liberty Counsel defends Merritt against the politically motivated charges from AG Becerra, who has made a public pledge to “Stand with Planned Parenthood.” The former attorney general, now Senator Kamala Harris, who began this witch hunt, has received $81,215 in campaign donations from the abortion industry. These charges are unprecedented. No other citizen journalist or journalism organization has ever been charged with a crime for undercover recordings made in the public interest.
Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Sandra Merritt has revealed the horrible truth that Planned Parenthood callously puts price tags on the body parts of innocent unborn children. The state of California has no legal basis to prosecute Sandra Merritt,” said Staver.
