Next steps in the Delphi murder case following the ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court

Indianapolis, Indiana – Professor Jody Madeira of Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law claims that the action taken by the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday was unusual.

“It is highly unusual for the Supreme Court to act that fast,” said Madeira after the justices took only hours to reinstate the attorneys for Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen.

Special Judge Fran Gull dismissed Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin from the lawsuit in October. As of Friday, the Supreme Court had not yet released a formal ruling explaining the reinstatement of Allen’s attorneys.

On October 28, 2022, Richard Allen, 51, of Delphi, was taken into custody in connection with the February 2017 killings of 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams close to the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. In the 3,000-person city of Delphi, Allen was employed at a pharmacy. The state and the country have been attentively following this situation.

Madeira said one factor in the quick decision was the amount of court filings the justices had handled on both sides prior the hearing. “The Supreme Court sort of knew the lay of the land when they walked into the courtroom that day,” Madeira said Friday.

Madeira stated that even if Allen’s lawyers had returned to the case, the battle to remove them from it might not be finished. I’m assuming that Baldwin and Rozzi are still in the woods. I firmly believe—and I may swallow my words—that Judge Gull will try to start additional removal proceedings in place of pursuing Baldwin and Rozzi. Dot the eyes, cross the’s, you know.

One possible result of the Supreme Court’s ruling, according to lawyer Kevin Greenlee, co-host of the Murder Sheet podcast, could be a quicker case progression. At Carroll Circuit Court, a trial date has been set for October 15.

“I think potentially we are looking at the possibility of a trial sooner rather than later. If they thought they could do a trial within 70 days in November (2023), I think there’s every possibility that we’re looking at a trial happening before the scheduled October date.”

Regardless of how the case plays out, the twisted path that led to Baldwin and Rozzi being removed amid information breaches and then being reinstated by the Supreme Court will cloud the case’s final assessment.

The state Supreme Court ruling, according to co-host of the Murder Sheet podcast Aine Cain, is “just something that’s going to be absolutely a lasting mark on the case.”