DELPHI, Ind. — The trial in the Delphi murders case has been moved up.
The court reviewed Richard Allen's request for an early trial and accepted it.
The jury trial will now take place May 13-31, 2024. The trial was previously scheduled to begin Oct. 15.
13News has learned jury selection will begin on May 13 and will take place at the Allen County Courthouse. Once the jury from Allen County has been selected, the trial will shift to Carroll County for opening arguments and continue there through the verdict.
Allen is accused of killing Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in February 2017.
Indiana court rules require that a trial for a defendant held in jail on a pending charge be commenced no later than 70 calendar days from the date of the motion for an early trial.
The defense's motion for an early trial was filed Wednesday, March 6.
Katie Jackson Lindsey, a defense attorney and 13News' legal expert, says moving the trial date up could benefit Allen.
“If we recall the narrative that we've heard pretty consistently from the defense team, it's that they don't believe that the state has the evidence to convict Richard Allen. They do not believe that he is the perpetrator of the crime, and so you certainly don't want to give them additional time to build a case against him, if the case is not there already,” Jackson Lindsey told 13News. “I think it signals this defense team is ready.”
Allen has been in prison for more than 16 months. His attorneys have repeatedly said they believe Allen is innocent and that he should not be held in a maximum-security state prison while awaiting his trial.
They previously indicated plans to request a speedy trial as a legal strategy to catch the Carroll County prosecutor off-guard, but that strategy was thwarted when judge Frances Gull kicked public defenders Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin off the case for alleged inappropriate conduct.
The Indiana Supreme Court did not find evidence of such conduct and reappointed the defense attorneys, who have stated they do not believe Gull can be impartial and have requested for her to step down.
The judge has declined to step aside and has set a March 18 hearing date to consider several key issues leading up to the trial.
The defense team has informed the special judge in the case that it has turned over a witness/exhibit list to the state ahead of Allen's trial.
In a filing dated March 8, Rozzi said the list turned over outlines the witnesses the defense may call and the exhibits it may use at trial. Rozzi states the defense may add to the list "if new witnesses and/or exhibits are obtained of if the Defense deems that additional witnesses and/or exhibits are necessary."
Rozzi also informs Gull in the filing that the volume of discovery in the case "is exceptionally large and has been offered up in different formats at various stages of the proceedings," also noting the team he had been removed from the case.
Exhibit list gives preview of defense strategy for March 18 contempt hearing
An exhibit list filed last week gives a preview of the evidence Allen's attorney's plan to present to defend themselves against contempt charges by the prosecutor in the Delphi murders case.
The Indiana Supreme Court put Allen's public defenders, Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin, back on the case in January after they accused special judge Frances Gull of forcing them to resign. But Rozzi and Baldwin still face a hearing March 18 on whether their actions should be held in contempt of court.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland argues that the defense attorneys should be held in contempt of court for what he calls a "trend" of "not being completely honest with the court." The prosecutor said the attorneys violated the gag order in the case by issuing a press release on Dec. 1, 2022, proclaiming Allen's innocence. McLeland also points to information, including crime scene photos, leaked to the public through Baldwin's office.
Attorney David Hennessy is representing Rozzi and Baldwin against the contempt charges. He has filed a list of 26 exhibits for the March hearing in Allen. They include communication between the prosecutor and a YouTube crime podcaster named Gary Beaudette, host of the FigSolv show.
The evidence includes Beaudette allegedly sending defense work product to the prosecutor, Beaudette revealing investigation information on his YouTube show that was not yet public, and an email where McLeland allegedly asked Beaudette to "delete everything."
Several other YouTube crime podcasts are listed as evidence, including "Frankmeister," Anthony Greeno's Crime Nation, and the Inquisitor True Crime. Court TV producer Barbara McDonald's reporting of alleged leaked investigation information is also listed in the exhibits.
A YouTube video called "The Reckoning in Carroll County" might also be shown in court.
All this seems to indicate the defense wants to put the focus of the contempt hearing on the prosecutor's actions.
The defense also says it received an anonymous call from a woman in Texas just a few weeks ago, claiming to have about 240 pages of leaked documents and agreed to provide them. But the defense says it has received only a few of those documents so far. So, the defense has asked for an extension of the deadline for discovery until March 14 for the March 18 hearing.