(NewsNation) — The Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday regarding Richard Allen’s request to reinstate his original defense team after they were removed from his case last fall.
Allen, the man charged with the 2017 killings of teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German in Delphi, Indiana, was not present for Thursday’s court hearing, despite being the one who filed the motion.
Allen was originally scheduled to stand trial for the double murders this month. Instead, after what the judge called an “unexpected turn of events” in October, the fate of Allen’s defense team now lies with the state’s highest court.
Allen claims he was mistreated by the court after Special Judge Fran Gull dismissed Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin from his trial, who were appointed as Allen’s public defenders when he was arrested in connection to the killings in 2022.
Now, Allen’s requested three things from the Indiana Supreme Court: He wants Baldwin and Rozzi reinstated, a new judge and a trial within 70 days.
Allen’s lawyers were removed from the case following a leak of crime scene evidence online. The judge referred to the attorneys as “grossly negligent” as a part of her reasoning for their removal.
An employee of Baldwin and Rozzi‘s law office later admitted they took the photos without permission and they were not leaked by the lawyers.
Allen was then assigned new attorneys. Gull said that Baldwin and Rozzi’s removal from the case would benefit Allen as he should have access to a competent defense team.
Mark Leeman, the counsel for the relator, argued that Gull never held a hearing to voice her concerns about alleged negligence and incompetence. She just made the decision without a discussion, he said.
“My client’s entitled to a jury trial with effective lawyers that he spent a year and three months developing a well-thought-out strategy of third party guilt, and a speedy trial to catch that prosecutor on their back foot, and it was blown out of the water from a judge who exceeded her authority,” Leeman said.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush acknowledged that Gull did not call a formal hearing to discuss her thinking and potential decision-making about defense counsel, which she says would have been the right process to follow. Rush wondered aloud if Gull did act beyond her authority.
However, Matt Gutwein, the counsel for the respondent, argued the judge did give Allen’s former lawyers the right to continue with a trial, but they voluntarily stepped down.
“These kinds of pre-trial, claims of constitutional violation are extremely normal,” Gutwein said. “If this court wants to get in the business of addressing the merits every time a criminal defendant raises a pre-trial constitutional violation, you will be flooded with these kinds of actions.”
Rush again questioned the transcript from the conversation between Gull and the lawyers, stating Gull didn’t really give the lawyers a choice for a trial.
Experts say it’s not always ask and receive when it comes to requests like Allen’s.
“Given what we’ve seen so far, the judge will not be disqualified from this case and Richard Allen has no right to have his original counsel reinstated. So the trial will move forward under Judge Gull and with a new defense team for Richard Allen,” Dr. Jody Madeira, a law professor at Indiana University, said.
However, criminal defense attorney Brian Clayton says the Indiana Supreme Court may allow Allen’s defense team to be reinstated. He explained that Allen has a constitutional right to competent legal counsel. Plus, his previous legal team knows the ins and outs of this case and Allen wants Baldwin and Rozzi to represent him.
No official decision was made by the Indiana Supreme Court Thursday, though a written opinion is expected some time in the future.
On the same day, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland filed new felony charges against Allen, NewsNation affiliate Fox 59 wrote, so he now faces a total of four counts of murder and two felony counts of kidnapping.
Allen’s trial has been delayed until October 2024 to allow his new attorneys sufficient time to review the case.
NewsNation affiliate Fox 59 contributed to this report.
