DELPHI, Ind. — The bills are still rolling in for what legal experts say is one of the most expensive criminal trials in Indiana history.
Data obtained by 13 Investigates shows the Carroll County auditor’s office has now paid more than $2.5 million for the double murder trial of Richard Allen.
During that month-long trial, a jury convicted Allen of killing Delphi teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in February 2017.
In response to an open records request filed by 13News, Carroll County auditor Beth Myers provided 13 Investigates with a spreadsheet detailing trial expenses paid through mid-December. Those expenses total $2,558,567, with the largest expenses falling into three categories: attorney fees, security and jury costs.
Attorney and legal fees top $1 million
Based on records reviewed by 13News, the largest trial expense was attorney fees with at least six separate attorneys billing Carroll County for their work on the Delphi murders trial.
The auditor said Richard Allen’s defense attorneys — including public defenders Brad Rozzi, Andrew Baldwin and Jennifer Auger — have been paid a total of $753,762 to date.
Attorneys hired to help the Carroll County prosecutor have received another $322,068. James Lutrell, Stacey Diener and Jackie Starbuck are all listed as special prosecutors paid by the county.
Addition legal costs include:
- $156,559 for expert witnesses
- $60,027 for depositions and transcripts
- $15,739 for defense investigators
- $8,000 for a consultant who helped the prosecutor prepare for trial
Security expenses soared during trial
Financial records show the second largest expense throughout the Delphi murders trial was security.
Carroll County hired officers from more than 35 different police agencies to provide that security and officers who worked the security details earned $60 per hour, according to Carroll County EMA director Mike Fincher. With added fees paid to an outside vendor that coordinated security scheduling, the total cost for security personnel for Richard Allen’s trial now sits at $719,910.
Equipment such as barricades, fencing and metal detectors cost another $94,161.
With additional costs for bailiffs, overtime for Carroll County sheriff’s deputies and other security expenses, the total paid to date for trial security is $874,163.
Many of the added security items used for the trial are not needed on a daily basis at the Carroll County Courthouse and will rarely be used, according to Fincher.
A detailed, searchable list including all trial expenses paid so far by the Carroll County auditor’s office is included below:
Sequestered jury costly
Housing, feeding and transporting 16 sequestered jurors from Allen County during the monthlong trial cost more than a quarter-million dollars for Carroll County.
Jury expenses paid by the auditor include $158,630 for hotel rooms and at least $34,322 for food.
The county has also spent at least $66,880 for transportation, jury questionnaires and other jury-related expenses.
The total bill for jury costs also includes food and accommodations for Judge Frances Gull, a court reporter and other court staff who accompanied the special judge from Allen County, as well as $3,300 for lodging for members of Allen’s defense team who stayed near Delphi during the trial.
To date, total lodging, food and transportation expenses cost Carroll County $262,788.
Other expenses incurred by the county include more than $130,000 in courtroom costs, supplies, equipment and reimbursement fees for mileage and parking. Among those expenses: $328 to produce several large maps that prosecutors used during the trial to show jurors where the murders took place, $13,358 for multiple computers and computer equipment used by the prosecutor, and $72,196 for a courtroom podium with advanced AV features.
The 12 jurors and four alternate jurors received a total of $39,317 for their jury service, which includes $30 for reporting for jury duty, $80 per day for the first five days of the trial, and $90 for each day served day thereafter. That’s roughly $2,500 per juror. (One of the alternate jurors was dismissed for personal reasons during the first week of the trial.)
As of mid-December, Carroll County financial records show the auditor has paid $12,915 for Richard Allen to be housed at the Indiana Department of Corrections and the Cass County Jail.
More trial expenses to come
The auditor told 13 Investigates there are more expenses to come.
“This is not all of the expenses — only the ones that have been received by the auditor's office. I am sure this is not ALL of the expenses to be filed,” Myers wrote in an email to 13News, adding that she cannot estimate how many outstanding trial-related invoices have yet to be submitted.
Allen’s attorneys have indicated Allen plans to appeal his guilty verdict, and a lengthy appeal could mean significantly higher costs for Carroll County. Anticipating future legal costs, the Carroll County Council approved an additional $2.3 million in its annual budget for the Delphi murders trial in October, raising its trial allocation to $4.3 million.
And while the $2.5 million already spent is incredibly costly for a single trial — especially in a small county of about 20,000 residents — Carroll County could see some of that money refunded.
Carroll County is a member of the Indiana Commission on Court Appointed Attorneys, which reimburses member counties for a portion of their eligible public defender expenses. A spokesman for ICCAA told 13 Investigates approximately $756,000 in attorney fees submitted so far by Allen’s public defenders possibly qualify as reimbursable expenses. At ICCAA’s 40% reimbursement rate, that could mean Carroll County could recoup $300,000 of the money it has already paid for Allen’s legal costs.