DELPHI, Ind — The search for a new attorney to represent the defendant in the Delphi murders trial – and the delay caused by the appointment of new defense counsel – could take longer than expected, according to the Indiana Public Defender Council.
“Right now, Indiana is facing an attorney shortage,” IPDC assistant executive director Michael Moore said. “So it's very likely this process could take a long time because of the sheer lack of lawyers available.”
Moore spoke to 13News Friday afternoon, just one day after defendant Richard Allen learned both of his attorneys were withdrawing as his defense team. Allen is charged with the murders of Delphi teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German in 2017, and his murder trial had been scheduled to begin in January 2024.
The trial is now on hold after special judge Frances Gull announced public defenders Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin stepped away from the case.
“We have an unexpected turn of events,” the judge told a stunned courtroom Thursday afternoon. “Earlier this afternoon, the defense attorneys have withdrawn their representation of Mr. Allen.”
The announcement comes amid an investigation into leaked crime scene evidence linked to Baldwin’s law office that could have resulted in strict sanctions against Allen’s former attorneys. Immediately after the surprise announcement, Gull said she would begin reaching out to public defenders to appoint new defense counsel for Allen.
Some Indiana counties have a public defender agency or special board that appoints public defenders for indigent defendants. That is not the case in Carroll County, where Allen is facing two murder charges. Because Carroll County relies on judicial appointment when assigning a public defender, Gull will have sole discretion in determining who will become Allen’s new defense counsel.
Carroll County is also a member of the Indiana Public Defender Commission, which means any public defender appointed to Allen must have extensive legal experience. The commission requires that its member counties hire attorneys for murder cases who have at least three years of criminal litigation experience and who have served as lead defense counsel in at least three jury trials that were tried to completion. In exchange for meeting the commission standards, member counties qualify for partial reimbursement for their public defender fees.
Whether Gull will appoint a single public defender to represent Allen or again select multiple attorneys is not yet known. Moore said whoever the judge selects to be Allen's new defense counsel will have a lot of work to do, with a top priority being to simply earn Allen’s trust.
“You have to build a relationship with a client, and the [former] attorneys here did,” Moore, a longtime public defender told 13News. “So coming in as a new lawyer and trying to re-establish that relationship will be a challenge. It will take time.”
Moore said other challenges include:
- Reviewing a mountain of evidence collected by investigators over the past 6 1/2 years since the teenagers were found murdered
- Traveling a long distance to visit Allen, who is being housed in the Westville Correctional Facility, to prepare his defense
- Deciding whether to follow legal strategies previously published by Allen's former attorneys or to develop a brand new defense.
“That can be really challenging, especially with a case where it's so high-profile and where there are so many outstanding discovery issues and evidentiary issues that have not been resolved,” Moore said.
With all those challenges, attorneys who spoke to 13News said Allen’s new defense counsel will need a long time to prepare for trial — resulting in a delay that could last well beyond next summer.
“I think six to nine months would be highly unrealistic for [Allen] to receive a fair trial, even with two lawyers,” Moore said. “I still think a year, or a year-and-a-half or two years in that timeframe, is a more realistic timeframe because they are essentially starting from scratch.”
13News also spoke with a defense attorney, Katie Jackson-Lindsay, who practices in Marion County and who mostly handles murder cases.
Jackson-Lindsay said it will be a challenging process to replace attorneys in this case.
“This court is going to have to dig deep into the legal community to figure out first and foremost which attorneys will fit those qualifications, and then, who would be willing to take on a case of this magnitude, and then, if they can fit that into their practice,” Jackson-Lindsay said. “So, it’s quite an in-depth process, I think, to replace attorneys on this case.”
She said the other challenge is the amount of evidence that will need to be reviewed.
“It’s almost like the case starts over. They have to review every single piece of evidence that was reviewed by prior counsel, just to see where things are and what defenses are viable,” Jackson-Lindsay said. “If you think about how long it took for us to get to this point, I think you can add that exact amount of time in terms of guessing a trial date.”
The next court hearing scheduled for Richard Allen is Oct. 31 in Carroll County.
13News will be there. Whether Allen's new attorney(s) will be present — or even appointed by then — is still to be seen.