Indiana Supreme Court Justices heard Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen’s request for the reinstatement of his original attorneys, along with a request for a new special judge, on Thursday.
Video Screenshot
Indiana’s highest court ruled that the suspect in the murders of two Delphi teenagers can have his original attorneys back on the case.
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday afternoon to reinstate Franklin attorney Andrew Baldwin and Logansport attorney Brad Rozzi as the attorneys for Richard Allen, 51, of Delphi. The court did deny Allen’s request to replace the special judge overseeing the case, Judge Frances Gull of Allen County.
The ruling came after oral arguments held earlier on Thursday. Testimony was heard from attorneys representing Allen, his former attorneys, Gull and the state of Indiana for about an hour.
13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German were found dead in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the Monon High Bridge in their hometown of Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017. The teens were killed after a relative dropped them off at a hiking trail near the Monon High Bridge, located about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
Allen was arrested for the teens’ murders on Oct. 28, 2022, and subsequently charged. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Rozzi and Baldwin were assigned as his public defenders.
A leak of evidence by a former employee of Baldwin in October led Gull to remove both him and Rozzi as Allen’s legal counsel. The former employee suspected in the leak, Mitch Thomas Westerman, 41, is charged with conversion, a Class A misdemeanor, in Johnson County.
Westerman is accused of taking photos of crime scene photos that were left inside a conference room at Baldwin’s office. These photos were sent to someone else, eventually being shared by a third person to YouTube creators and podcasts, according to court documents. A pretrial hearing was held for Westerman also on Thursday, with another set for March 7.
Baldwin and Rozzi have criticized their removal and have asked to be reinstated as Allen’s counsel. Allen and his new attorneys also filed briefs with the Indiana Supreme Court asking for Gull to be removed from the case as a special judge and to reinstate his old attorneys.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office and Gull asked the Indiana Supreme Court to deny the hearing, but it took place as scheduled on Thursday morning.
Attorney Mark Leeman, who was speaking on behalf of Allen, laid out their case for Gull’s removal and reinstatement of Baldwin and Rozzi. Leeman argued Gull exceeded her authority, and said no matter whether Baldwin and Rozzi were found ineffective or not, Allen had a right to choose his own attorneys.
Their removal had also jeopardized their strategy of invoking a speedy trial. Before Baldwin and Rozzi’s removal, a jury trial had been set for this month.
“My client was entitled to a jury trial today,” Leeman said. “My client is entitled to a jury trial with effective lawyers that he spent a year and three months developing a well-thought-out strategy of third-party guilt and a speedy trial to catch that prosecutor on their back foot. And it was blown out of the water from a judge who exceeded her authority.”
However, justices said that Baldwin and Rozzi had two months to file for a speedy trial but never did.
Leeman did not believe Baldwin and Rozzi were proven to be ineffective or incompetent. The leak has nothing to do with the trial strategy they developed with Allen and would have no effect on the case, Leeman said.
If nothing changes, he argued the victims, the public and the entire Indiana judiciary would be harmed “because this trial’s been pushed back to October.”
Matthew Gutwein, an attorney representing Gull, said the decision to remove Baldwin and Rozzi was exercised on discretion, and Gull had the authority to remove them because of ineffectiveness and worries about conflict of interest. Gutwein also said keeping Baldwin and Rozzi on Allen’s defense team would open the case up for Allen to appeal and say he went to trial with ineffective counsel.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush expressed concern about how the removal of Baldwin and Rozzi took place.
“There’s a way you do it, and it does not appear this was done the proper way,” Rush said. “You’re supposed to have a hearing.”
Gull had removed them on her motion during an in-chamber hearing, Rush said. She questioned whether Gull exceeded her authority by doing so in this manner.
Gutwein said no case law says there has to be a “certain amount of procedure” when it comes to the manner of removal. He later said Gull was prepared to hold a hearing to determine if they were negligent in their handling of the case, but Baldwin and Rozzi chose to withdraw instead of the matter being discussed in open court.
Allen wants Baldwin and Rozzi as his attorneys, despite the delays, Rush said. He even wanted to privately hire them.
“I’m really struggling with why he can’t make that decision that that’s in his best interest and get this case moving again,” she said.
Angela Sanchez, chief counsel of appeals at the attorney general’s office, said her office’s stance is that Allen was pursuing an incorrect legal avenue by going directly to the high court. She said the regular appeal process was the proper channel for his concerns. She also questioned whether the court knew exactly what Allen wanted as his request to keep his old attorneys was presented to them “second hand.”
Allen has been clear on what he wants — Baldwin and Rozzi’s reinstatements, Leeman said. As an example, he cited a letter Allen sent the court where he argued to keep Baldwin and Rozzi despite the leak.
Leeman later alleged that Gull and the attorney general’s office are seeking to create ambiguity where none exists. He said Allen would ultimately accept whatever the court decides.
While this matter was before the State Supreme Court, prosecutors in Carroll County asked to amend the charges against Allen. He was already charged with two counts of murder, the amendment would add two counts of murder while kidnapping and two counts of kidnapping, according to media reports.
