What’s next in Delphi murders case after Indiana Supreme Court decision
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — What the Indiana Supreme Court did Thursday was rare, according to Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Jody Madeira.
“It is highly unusual for the Supreme Court to act that fast,” said Madeira after the justices took only hours to reinstate the attorneys for Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen.
In October, Special Judge Fran Gull ousted Andrew Baldwin and Brad Rozzi from the case. The Supreme Court as of Friday had yet to publish an official opinion about why Allen’s attorneys were reinstated.
Richard Allen, 51, of Delphi, was arrested on Oct. 28, 2022, for the February 2017 murders of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Delphi is a city of about 3,000 where Allen worked at a drugstore. The case has been closely watched in the state and nationwide.
Madeira said one factor in the quick decision was the amount of court filings the justices had handled on both sides prior the hearing. “The Supreme Court sort of knew the lay of the land when they walked into the courtroom that day,” Madeira said Friday.
Although Allen’s attorney’s are back on the case, Madeira said, the fight to get them off the case might not be over. “Baldwin and Rozzi, my guess is, are not out of the woods. I do believe, and I might eat these words, that Judge Gull will, rather than moving forward with Baldwin and Rozzi, will attempt to initiate other proceedings for removal. You know, dot the eyes, cross the t’s.”
According to attorney Kevin Greenlee, co-host of the Murder Sheet podcast, one potential outcome of the Supreme Court decision could be a faster pace to the case moving forward. A trial has been set for Oct. 15 in Carroll Circuit Court.
“I think potentially we are looking at the possibility of a trial sooner rather than later. If they thought they could do a trial within 70 days in November (2023), I think there’s every possibility that we’re looking at a trial happening before the scheduled October date.”
However the case pans out, the twists and turns of having Baldwin and Rozzi removed amid leaks of case information and then reinstated by the Supreme Court will cast a shadow over how this case is looked at in the end.
Aine Cain, the co-host of the Murder Sheet podcast, said that the state Supreme Court decision is “just something that’s going to be absolutely a lasting mark on the case.”