CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. — A friend and former co-worker of attorney Andrew Baldwin, who was one-half of accused Delphi murderer Richard Allen’s original defense team, is being charged after he admitted to taking photos of sensitive crime scene evidence related to the Delphi murders and leaking the photos online.
Mitchell Westerman, 41, of Westfield is charged with one count of conversion, a Class A misdemeanor.
According to court documents, Westerman once was employed at Baldwin’s law firm and the two have been friends for several years. Westerman no longer works with Baldwin but said he frequently stopped by the office to visit with Baldwin and the staff.
On Oct. 5, law enforcement were notified of a leak in evidence related to the slayings of Libby German and Abby Williams in Delphi in February of 2017. The evidence, including sensitive crime scenes photos, had been spread online and distributed to Youtube and podcast content creators.
On Oct. 9, Westerman reportedly contacted Baldwin and admitted to being behind the leak. Westerman told Baldwin that he had stopped by the law firm’s office and found evidence photos related to the Delphi case spread out in Baldwin’s conference room. Westerman admitted to using his phone to take photographs of the evidence and then sharing those photos with a Fishers man. Investigators determined the Fishers man then shared the evidence with a man from Texas who, in turn, forwarded the evidence to various YouTube and podcast creators.
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According to court documents, the Fishers man ended up taking his own life after being questioned by police about the evidence leak.
Westerman admitted in a sworn statement that Baldwin did not give him permission to take photographs of the crime scene evidence he found in the conference room of the law firm’s office. He also said Baldwin was not present in the conference room when he took the photos.
Brad Rozzi, the other half of Allen’s original defense team, called Westerman’s actions “theft” due to him not having permission from either of the attorneys to take photographs of the evidence let alone share the sensitive information with others.
The Delphi evidence leak has caused a flood of problems for the highly publicized murder case, including playing a major role in Judge Fran Gull removing both Rozzi and Baldwin from the case after calling their actions “grossly negligent.”
Baldwin previously called the leak by Westerman a “betrayal” and said he has since kept all Delphi documents and files in locked cabinets.
Both Baldwin and Rozzi continue to plead their case to the Indiana Supreme Court to be reinstated as Allen’s legal counsel while also calling for Judge Gull to be thrown from the case.
Allen’s trial, originally set for January, now likely will not begin until October or November.