Judge to consider motion to keep composite sketches out of Delphi murders trial
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The trial of Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen begins Friday, but before that, the judge in the case will hold a key hearing.
Special Judge Frances Gull is set to hear a motion from prosecutors to prohibit the jury from seeing two widely-circulated police sketches used by investigators before Allen’s arrest.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland requested that the composite sketches not be admitted as evidence or referenced during the trial.
McLeland says the sketches are “not relevant” and would “confuse or mislead” the jury.
He told the court in a motion filed Tuesday that the sketches should not be admitted because
“a composite sketch is not relevant, admission would result in undue prejudice, confuse or mislead the jury, or is impermissible hearsay, and the witnesses who participated in the preparation of composite sketch(s) will not be presented by the state for the purpose of in-court identification of the defendant.”
Allen, 52, is charged with murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing.
Gull will also likely consider a request from the defense for jurors to visit the crime scene near the Monon High Bridge.
The hearing is set for Thursday morning at the Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne.
Judge Gull will travel to Carroll County this afternoon to swear in the jury.
The trial is set to begin Friday morning at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.
Be sure to stay with News 8 for team coverage of the Delphi murders trial.
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