INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court is rejecting an attempt to remove special judge Frances Gull from the Delphi murders case.
Richard Allen is charged with murdering Abby Williams and Libby German in February 2017. His attorneys claimed the judge failed to rule on their Request for a Franks Hearing and wanted the state supreme court to remove her.
But the justices didn't agree with the request.
In a determination on July 19, the court said that Allen's attorneys continued to file new motions. The justices said that action "waived any relief" for Gull failing to respond to the earlier filing.
Gull and the lead defense attorneys – Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin – have both tried to remove one another from the case without success. The Indiana Supreme Court reversed Gull's decision to remove the lawyers and denied the lawyers' earlier request to remove her.
(NOTE: the video at the top of this story was from when the latest motion was filed on July 11)
New pre-trial hearing dates set
The judge in the case set new court dates for Allen's pre-trial hearing.
Following the cancellation of the originally scheduled three-day hearing back in May, Gull re-scheduled the pre-trial hearing to July 30, July 31 and Aug. 1.
The hearings will tackle nearly a dozen different motions from both the prosecutor and defense on various issues, including motions to suppress evidence and other motions to admit evidence.
These hearings will not include the unusual motion the defense filed in mid-June, in which they once again asked Gull to step down because they intend to call her as a witness in the future.
The defense said testimony from Gull will be important to show that law enforcement has acted in bad faith, violating Allen's constitutional rights, and they claim the judge has direct knowledge about that.
Gull has not yet responded to the defense's claims.
Back in May, Allen's trial was moved to Oct. 14-Nov. 15, 2024.
