Judge erases photos of Delphi Murders jurors from confiscated cameras
DELPHI, Ind. (WISH) — Two new orders shared for the first time Wednesday from the special judge in the Delphi Murders case addressed media covering the trial, and one order noted she’d erased photos of jurors taken outside the courthouse from confiscated cameras.
Judge Fran Gull of Allen County has been strict in public access to the trial after she said last year that she “had lost confidence” in media coverage of suspect Richard Allen’s case. No cameras or electronic devices are being allowed in the Carroll County Courthouse.
Allen, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German. The girls’ bodies were found on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing, near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi.
Gull met with the media last week at the Courthouse before the trial started. She allowed photos to be taken of the empty courtroom, which News 8 has aired. She also provided guidelines for media coverage.
Indiana trial rules adapted in May 2023 allowed cameras in courtrooms with limits, including the judge’s advance approval. The limits also include a prohibition on cameras in courtroom proceedings from recording certain people, including jurors.
Security at the Courthouse has been extremely heavy. A large fence covered with a black material was put around the three-story, Classical Revival-style building. Some adjacent streets were closed in downtown Delphi.
The judge limited reporters to using only pens and paper, and at least one of the reporters allowed in the courtroom daily is appointed as a pool reporter. Outside the Courthouse between sessions, the handwritten notes of the daily pool reporter are electronically shared with media representatives, first as photos of the handwritten notebook pages and later as a typed transcription of the notes.
As the jury arrived in a van on Friday for the first day of the trial, police outside the Carroll County Courthouse confiscated cameras of three journalists: a Sony camcorder from Eric Arnold of NBC; two cameras from Mike Conroy of The Associated Press; and two cameras from Alex Martin of Gannett, which publishes USAToday.com and four Indiana news websites including IndyStar.com.
One order that Gull signed Friday was shared publicly Wednesday. Gull had ordered the memory cards removed from the five confiscated cameras “to have the jurors’ images erased.” In addition, the order banned all three photographers from “the proceedings.”
Martin had said in a Gannett online report that he did not take photos of the jurors, and had put one camera on his hip and set the other camera on the ground as the jury arrived.
The judge did not say in her order if the cameras and altered memory cards were returned to the journalists or their employers.
In Gull’s other order regarding public access, which was signed and publicly shared on Wednesday, a criminal defense attorney who provided analysis and content of high-profile cases across the United States was denied access to audio recordings that the court is making of the trial.
It’s not uncommon nationally for courts to make audio recordings or, in some cases, video recordings, of hearings for use during and after the trial. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court records all oral arguments and posts the recordings on its website the same day.
In Indiana, any audio recordings made are shared only with prosecutors, defense attorneys and court personnel involved in the specific trial; they’re referred to in Indiana trial rules as the parties of the case.
In the Delphi Murders trial, the parties of the case would include Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland, deputy prosecutors James Luttrull and Stacey Diener, and Allen’s defense attorneys, Bradly Rozzi, Andrew Baldwin and Jennifer Auger.
Criminal defense attorney, Andrea Burkhart, who is licensed in Washington state, had filed a motion with Gull to ask for access to the Delphi Murders trial audio recordings and to note the lack of public and media access to the trial.
Gull ruled against Burkhart without giving the defense attorney a hearing.
The special judge in her ruling cited the Indiana trial rules and wrote, “As Andrea Burkhart is not a party to these proceedings, the Court is not required to provide the recording. The balance of the Motion to intervene is merely a complaint about how the Court is conducting a trial.”
Before the trial, Gull allowed a camera in the courtroom for hearing in Allen’s case on Oct. 19, 2023. The video was to be shared by a pool of media organizations. Livestreams were not allowed. If an organization chose to air the video, they had to delay it.
In the order allowing the cameras on Oct. 19. 2023, she wrote, “This case has generated substantial public interest and media attention.”
However, in June, she denied further cameras in the courtroom, saying that “the court has lost confidence in the ability of the media to cover hearings appropriately.”
Indiana courtrooms started May 1, 2023, to allow news media bring cameras into courtrooms, with limits. The Indiana Supreme Court said in a news release issued Feb. 15, 2023, that its decision came after a pilot program that involved selected judges, including Gull.
In the news release, Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush noted, “Trial court judges are in the best position to determine how to balance the importance of transparency while protecting the rights of people involved in a court matter.”
The Indiana trial rule adapted May 1, 2023, says the means of recording cannot “distract participants or impair the dignity of the proceedings.”
The rule also says, in part, “All civil and criminal proceedings are eligible for broadcast by the news media, except for proceedings closed to the public, either by state statute or Indiana Supreme Court rules. No broadcast of a court proceeding is allowed without authorization from the judge. All authorized broadcast coverage of a court proceeding must comply with the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct and the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct. The judge must prohibit media broadcast of minors; juvenile delinquency and CHINS matters; victims of violent offenses, sex offenses, and domestic abuse; jurors; attorney-client communications; bench conferences; and materials on counsel tables and judicial bench. The judge has discretion to deny broadcast coverage of a witness for safety concerns.”