Tainted Grand Jury Disbands Without Indicting Planned Parenthoodby Staff
March 13, 2008
OLATHE, Kansas, (christiansunite.com) -- A citizen-called grand jury that was empanelled to investigate a Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas, on seven allegations of criminal misconduct disbanded late Monday without issuing an indictment after unanimously withdrawing the only subpoena they issued in the so-called investigation.
The proceedings were tainted by misconduct on the parts of the Judge Kevin Moriarty and special prosecutors, that included improper backroom deals cut with Planned Parenthood attorneys that denied critical evidence to the grand jury as a whole. The secrecy of the grand jury was compromised at every turn.
"The people of Johnson County should be offended that the grand jury made such a mockery of this investigation," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "There is no way that they could have possibly investigated all seven allegations that the voters empanelled them to investigate without inspecting any documents from Planned Parenthood."
"It's shocking that Planned Parenthood was allowed to direct their own investigation and dictate to the grand jury what evidence would be provided, and even how they would be allowed to view the evidence," said Newman. "The entire process was corrupted, and Judge Moriarty is responsible for that corruption. We are considering the possibility of filing ethics charges against him."
Moriarty refused to allow members of the grand jury to inspect 16 subpoenaed abortion records that had already had all patient-identifying information redacted, citing bogus privacy concerns. Instead, he personally took custody of the records and prepared a "spreadsheet" summary of information in the records. The grand jury was not allowed to view the evidence in context.
The L.I.F.E. Coalition, consisting of Operation Rescue, Concerned Women for America, and Women Influencing the Nation, led the petition process that convened the grand jury. The petition requested an investigation of Planned Parenthood for performing illegal late term abortions, failure to report child sex abuse, failure to provide legally mandated standard of care, filing false information with the state, illegal trafficking of fetal tissue, failure to comply with parental consent requirements, and the failure to enforce the required 24-hour waiting period.
"There's no way the public can take the conclusion of this grand jury seriously. We are considering our legal options to insure that true justice is done," said Newman.
Planned Parenthood still faces 107 criminal charges filed by the District Attorney's office in October of last year.
About Operation RescueOperation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
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