CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. — The Delphi murder suspect’s defense team is attempting to slip out of accusations of contempt by arguing the court should focus on the upcoming trial instead of ancillary proceedings.
As Richard Allen marches closer to a recently rescheduled May 13 murder trial, his attorneys — Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi — have put their own attorney to work filing a flurry of motions that include calling on Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland to recuse himself from Monday’s hearing.
Allen is charged with two counts of murder in connection with the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Allen could face additional charges of murder and kidnapping.
In Monday’s hearing, Prosecutor McLeland plans to convince Judge Fran Gull to hold Baldwin and Rozzi in contempt of court, listing 25 reasons why the pair should be held in contempt — most relating to the evidence leak tied to the attorneys along with violations of a gag order.
The defense team is attempting to wriggle out of this hearing, however, by claiming the court should instead be focusing on the upcoming May trial and not be spending time on issues that can be “litigated and resolved after trial.”
But despite Rozzi and Baldwin’s continued claims of focusing on a timely trial, the pair’s attorney — David Hennessy — continues to add hurdles with yet another wave of legal maneuvering that could stall or delay the case.
In one motion, Hennessy called on the court to issue its findings on the contempt matter prior to the hearing on March 18 — which is less than a week away.
In separate mirroring motions, Hennessy called on both Judge Gull and Prosecutor McLeland to recuse themselves from the contempt hearing.
Hennessy argues that McLeland’s contempt claims of Rozzi and Baldwin are “frivolous and unfounded” and argues that the alleged acts committed by Rozzi and Baldwin occurred more than a year ago.
Due to this gap between when the accusations reportedly occurred and the call for a contempt hearing, Hennessy argued that “clearly time is not of the essence” and therefore focus is better spent preparing for the May 13 trial.
But part of that long delay is due to the case grinding to a halt after Judge Gull removed Rozzi and Baldwin in the wake of the evidence leak which led to the pair taking their fight to be reinstated all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court.
In asking for Gull to recuse herself from the contempt hearing, Hennessy argued that Gull “cannot appear to be neutral” in the matter. It’s noted that Gull previously kicked Rozzi and Baldwin off the case and called their actions “negligent.”
In another shot at Gull, Hennessy pushed back against Gull scheduling hearings to be held in Allen County. Gull, a judge for Allen Superior Court, was selected as the special judge in the case. Several hearings, including Monday’s contempt hearing, have been scheduled or held in Allen County despite Allen’s murder charges being in Carroll County.
Hennessy argued that Gull holding hearings in Allen County imposes hardships on attorneys and witnesses, due to the case being rooted in Carroll County, and only benefits Gull herself.
Hennessy’s latest motions appear to be part of a coordinated attack by Baldwin and Rozzi to fight back against the contempt charges leveled at them by McLeland. On Tuesday, Baldwin and Rozzi also filed motions alleging that the prosecutor and police investigators misled and withheld evidence requested by the defense team.
These hearings and legal maneuvers continue to kick up a dust cloud around the high-profile murder case while the family of Abby Williams and Libby German continue to wait for some semblance of justice more than seven years after the girls were killed.