DELPHI, Ind.–The judge in the case of Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen says she will bring in a jury from another county to hear the trial.
Judge Frances Gull, a special judge from Allen County, said it would be “difficult if not impossible” to find jurors in Carroll County who have not been involved in the case in some capacity. At the same time, she couldn’t see a way for the trial to be held outside of Carroll County, given where the witnesses are. Gull said the costs to move the trial to another county would be “extraordinary.”
All of that means the defense and prosecution have a week to agree on a suitable county from which jurors could be transported to Carroll County and sequestered during the trial.
The gag order will remain in effect, although attorneys from both sides can talk about procedural issues and the bail hearing set for February 17. They are, however, still not allowed to discuss the facts of the case.
Gull said she’ll hear arguments during the bail hearing on whether the trial can proceed as scheduled on March 23, although there are “thousands upon thousands” of pages of discovery for the state to turn over to Allen’s defense lawyers.
Allen’s lawyers met with Gull in her chambers. They came back to the courtroom for a hearing on public funding for investigators, but those proceedings were closed to the public.
Allen was arrested in October. He is accused of killing Abby Williams and Libby German in Delphi back in 2017.
