ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. — When attorneys in the Delphi murders case arrive in court later this month, two pressing issues will be at hand.
Special Judge Fran Gull set a hearing for 9 a.m. on Feb. 12 in Fort Wayne focused on two motions filed by the prosecution in January. Richard Allen, charged with two counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge, is set to appear.
Attorneys Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin will represent Allen after their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court on Jan. 18.
According to court records, Gull is expected to hear two issues: a Jan. 18 filing by Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland to amend the charges against Allen and a Jan. 29 filing by McLeland seeking contempt of court against Rozzi and Baldwin.
State seeks additional charges
On Jan. 18–the same day the Indiana Supreme Court reinstated Allen’s attorneys and decided to keep Gull on the case–McLeland filed court documents seeking additional charges against Allen.
Allen is currently facing two counts of murder. However, the state is now seeking two additional counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping.
In his motion, McLeland argued that the investigative findings supported the idea that Allen kidnapped the girls prior to their murders.
The motion seeks to charge Allen with two different types of murder–one for a killing in the commission of a felony and the other for the act of killing the girls. The distinction between the two is nuanced, but one of the murder charges–sometimes called “felony murder”–does not necessarily require prosecutors to prove that Allen committed the killings.
Allen’s original charges were for “felony murder,” although the state had not filed charges related to the underlying crime. The Jan. 18 filing shows prosecutors are specifically seeking a kidnapping charge, while adding the two additional murder counts for “knowingly or intentionally” killing another human being.
“The State is asking the Court for leave to file these Amended Charges because the
charges more accurately aligns the Charging Information with the cause’s discovery and
probable cause affidavit,” McLeland wrote in the filing.
Contempt of court sought against defense
Revelations regarding an evidence leak derailed the case in October, when the court learned an associate of defense attorney Baldwin had taken crime scene photos and distributed them to another person who then disseminated them on social media.
The leak led Judge Gull to call for the withdrawal of Baldwin and Rozzi from the case. On Oct. 19, Gull announced in court that the two attorneys had withdrawn as Allen’s representation. She later appointed a pair of new attorneys.
But Baldwin and Rozzi later contended they stepped down under pressure and fought for reinstatement. The case made it all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, which ultimately decided to reinstate them on Jan. 18. The state’s highest court also kept Gull on the case after efforts to remove her.
The evidence leak is a key component of the Jan. 29 filing in which McLeland sought to have Baldwin and Rozzi held in contempt of court. McLeland outlined 25 points supporting his motion, with the October evidence leak–and a second, earlier inadvertent disclosure of discovery materials–among them.
In his filing, McLeland also wrote that the two attorneys rejected the idea of a gag order for the case in November 2022 and said they didn’t plan to discuss the case in public. On Dec. 1, 2023, they issued a press release commenting on the investigation and stating their belief that Allen was innocent.
Had the gag order, which Gull had taken under advisement, been in place, the press release would’ve violated it. A day after the press release went public, the court granted the motion for the gag order.
Again, the hearing on both issues is set for Monday, Feb. 12. Allen’s trial is scheduled for October.
