The case against an Indiana man accused of killing two teen girls in Delphi in 2017 edged closer to chaos on Thursday after one of the defense attorneys accused the judge of “ambushing” the defense and asked the state Supreme Court to remove her from the case.
Judge Frances Gull announced last week that Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin were stepping down from the case. Baldwin immediately filed to withdraw, but now Rozzi says that Gull “coerced” the withdrawals.
The relationship between the attorneys, Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin, and Judge Frances Gull, a special judge appointed for the trial of Richard Allen nearly a year ago, has been contentious almost from the start. Gull reprimanded the pair last December when they released a statement lambasting the case against their client weeks after they’d taken the case themselves, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
The judge responded with a gag order for all parties involved in the case.
Allen in charged with the murders of Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, who were found dead near the Monon High Bridge after they didn’t return from a walk.
In September, Rozzi and Baldwin unleashed court filings that accused the state of withholding evidence and deceiving the judge in order to obtain a search warrant of Allen’s home.
When previous leaked evidence emerged online, Allen’s team reportedly took accountability for it. Gull has reportedly repeatedly chastised Allen’s attorneys for statements and leaks jeopardizing Allen’s fair trial rights.
Last week, Gull had scheduled a hearing over crime scene evidence that was shared online and the defense’s new contention that the teen girls were killed in a ritual sacrifice by white nationalists. Authorities believe Allen’s lawyers may be responsible for releasing sensitive images to social media groups focused on the murders, according to an investigation by “The Murder Sheet” podcast.
Just before the hearing, Gull announced that Rozzi and Baldwin were stepping down. She said that she had accepted the withdrawal of one and would accept the other when it is proffered and that both attorneys would help find “successor counsel.”
But in documents filed in court on Thursday, Rozzi said that Gull carried out a “pre-meditated ambush” last week, giving Rozzi and Baldwin a choice: “suffer a public shaming AND be removed from the case or to voluntarily withdraw,” WISH reported.
Rozzi said that Gull told them she was going to read a letter in court alleging the had been “grossly negligent” in their defense of Allen.
“Throughout these proceedings Judge Gull has exhibited a bias and prejudice against the Accused and his attorneys and in favor of the prosecution,” Rozzi wrote.
Rozzi asked that a hearing scheduled for October 31 be postponed. Allen’s trial on two counts of murder is set to begin in January.
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[Featured image: Richard Allen/Police Handout; Libby & Abby/Handout]
