Delphi murders trial to still begin in October after court denies Richard Allen’s appeal request

This article features additional reporting from FOX59/CBS4’s Matt Adams and Russ McQuaid.

DELPHI, Ind. — The Oct. 14 date for the Delphi double murder trial of Richard Allen remains intact after the court denied the defense’s request for an appeal Wednesday.

After concerns that a recently filed appeal request may once again delay the trial’s start date, the Court confirmed Wednesday the trial will continue as scheduled after the request was denied. Allen’s attorneys wanted Judge Fran Gull to certify recent rulings so they could appeal the ruling to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Richard Allen is charged with four counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Indiana State Police announced his arrest in October 2022.

Appeal request and denial

Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin – the defense attorneys for Allen – signaled their plans earlier this week for an interlocutory appeal of a ruling from Special Judge Fran Gull.

This move from the defense came after Gull ruled last week that they could not mention an alternative murder theory — that the girls were killed in a ritualistic fashion linked to Odinism — during the proceedings.

The order, which granted most of the state’s Motion in Limine, prohibits the lawyers from mentioning their third-party suspects.

After the defense announced this plan, it seemed that the Oct. 14 jury trial date for the case was once again in jeopardy after multiple previous delays. On Wednesday, the Court put an end to this possibility and denied the defense’s Motion to Certify Court Orders.

“Trial remains set October 14, 2024 – November 15, 2024, with jury selection being conducted in Allen County, Indiana, and trial being conducted in Carroll County, Indiana,” online court records read.

For more information on why the State argued against the appeal request, click here .

Defense’s past issues

Allen’s lawyers have previously argued that Gull’s decision “gutted” their defense strategy and asked for Gull’s certification so they could take the case to an appeals court. They argued the ruling violated Allen’s constitutional rights.

This is the latest in a series of setbacks suffered by Allen’s defense team.

Judge Gull ruled last month that several reported confessions made by Allen to family members, jail staff and doctors were admissible in court. The judge ruled the statements made by Allen were all given voluntarily and that his team has not proven he suffered any psychological coercion when making the alleged confessions.

The State of Indiana v. Richard M. Allen trial is still scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Oct. 14 in Carroll Circuit Court as of this article’s publication.

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