During the last day of testimony in the Planned Parenthood v The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) civil trial, security expert Jonathan Perkins took the stand, telling the court that Planned Parenthood could have prevented the CMP undercover investigation by taking simple security steps.
According to Pro-Life San Francisco founder and executive director Terrisa Bukovinac, Perkins has a career in law enforcement spanning 35 years including undercover work for vice and narcotics, working robberies and homicides, investigating serial murder cases, and working security at the Grammys and Academy Awards as well keeping the peace outside of an abortion facility. He also monitored online threats aimed at musician John Mayer and helped with an investigation into the hacking of actress Jennifer Lawrence. One of his cases was covered by America’s Most Wanted and the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Perkins testified that media exposure can help stop crime. He also stated that during undercover work to stop gangsters, no one with a fake ID was ever charged with a crime for having one.
Perkins reviewed exhibits in the Planned Parenthood v CMP trial and told the court that security assessments at Planned Parenthood conferences and clinics weren’t up to industry standards. “Any individual could Google addresses,” he said. He added later that an example of poor security was the video from CMP during which CMP founder David Daleiden set off the metal detector but was waved through security despite this.
READ: Doctors told David Daleiden ‘fetuses needed to be born alive in order to collect the specimen’
In light of Planned Parenthood including trespassing in their report concerning violence against abortion facilities, the defense asked Perkins if trespassing would be considered a violent crime, to which he replied, “Not at all.”
Perkins also testified that tweets about Planned Parenthood abortionists that said they should get the death penalty or “should be drawn and quartered” are not credible threats. He described these as “keyboard courage.”
Forensic accounting expert Paul Zimmer also testified on Wednesday saying that the damages claims against CMP by Planned Parenthood for the cost of security upgrades lack a basic but important piece of information. That information is what Planned Parenthood was spending on security prior to the CMP investigation. Zimmer told the court that not including this information prevents a forensic accountant from accurately and honestly assessing any damages owed.
Another key point in the final day of testimony on Wednesday was when Judge William Orrick III told the court that both the plaintiffs and the defense agreed that what the Planned Parenthood employees were filmed saying in the videos was in fact, what they said — meaning Planned Parenthood admitted to the fact that their employees’ words were not altered in the CMP undercover videos.
Closing arguments begin November 12.
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