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    • Richard Allen’s likely issues on appeal in the Delphi murders
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    Richard Allen’s likely issues on appeal in the Delphi murders

    Online Niel Posted on

    Moments before The fate of Richard Allen was announced Monday in a packed courtroom in downtown Delphi, Special Judge Frances Gull gave a serious assessment of the case that has been haunting the small Indiana community for years.

    “No matter what the verdict is,” she said, “people are not going to be happy.”

    Of course, everyone retreated into their silos. Outside the courtroom, those who believe Allen was guilty are relieved that justice has been served. And those who believe Allen was railroaded while the real killers are at large are angry and incredulous. Indeed, Allen’s supporters already appear to be preparing for the next phase of the legal battle: a lengthy appeals process. Within hours of the verdict, a website called “Justice for Rick Allen” began circulating on social media.

    Guilty in every way: What’s next for Richard Allen after Delphi murder conviction?

    “This is not over at all,” said a visibly upset Kathy Allen, Richard Allen’s wife, as she left court Monday accompanied by defense attorneys.

    Is Odinism part of the picture?

    For Allen’s supporters, he was convicted not because of the evidence jurors saw, but because of what they didn’t.

    Surely Allen will appeal and when he does, Odinism and Gull’s decision not to allow his defense team to present jurors with evidence pointing to an occult sacrifice will likely be a key part of it, legal experts say.

    Allen’s defense team aggressively pushed their theory that Odinists, members of a Norse pagan religion hijacked by white nationalists, killed the girls during a sacrificial ritual in the woods. They have created an explosive 136-page memorandum presenting what they believe is compelling evidence pointing to Odinism. They claimed that sticks and branches were arranged on the girls’ bodies and a letter was painted on a tree using Libby’s blood to resemble Odinistic runes and symbols.

    After the verdict: Some are walking the Monon High Bridge Trail on Monday to pay their respects to Libby and Abby

    They put forward the names of alleged Odinites who they say are viable suspects in the case, including a Logansport man whose son dated Abby and who, the defense argued, posted encrypted images resembling the crime scene on social media. During a pretrial hearing in August, a former Indiana State Police detective who investigated the Odinism angle testified that Brad Holder’s social media posts are “not a coincidence.” At the same hearing, an expert called by the defense testified that the deaths of the teenagers are “textbook examples”. of a ritual crime.

    But in the end, none of that was enough to convince Gull that the jurors needed to hear about Odinism. It decided that the introduction of such evidence would only cause confusion and might mislead the jury. In his appeal, Allen could revive the problem of judicial bias ― that Gull was not a neutral arbiter, but a judge who showed explicit favoritism to the prosecution.

    “Basically, that’s what the defense thought was holding them back,” said Jody Madeira, an Indiana University law professor who prosecuted the case. “They couldn’t present the narrative that they wanted to. There were still gaps that they couldn’t fill. I think that will be a central point of their appeal.”

    As testimony began last month, Gull also ruled that jurors would not see the two widely circulated composite sketches that police released in 2017 and 2019, Carroll County District Attorney Nicholas McLeland sided that the renderings were based on witnesses who described a variety of facial features, but noted that they were unsure of their identifications. Defense attorneys have argued that sketches showing two different men, neither of whom resemble Allen, are highly relevant.

    “I think the biggest possible problem is that his lawyers tried to argue that there were other possible suspects in the case, and Judge Gull refused to allow that,” said Indianapolis defense attorney Jeffrey Mendes, who is prosecuting the case.

    The evidence against Richard Allen: The jury in the Delphi murders deliberated for days

    What other issues might be raised in the appeal?

    The incriminating statements that Allen did while awaiting trial at the Westville Correctional Center — and Gull’s decision to allow them to be shown to jurors — could also be raised in the appeal, experts say.

    The case against Allen was based in part on dozens of statements he gave to prison officials, his therapist and in many phone calls to his family. Prosecutors presented him with several of these confessions, including one he made to Dr. Monica Wala, his Westville therapist. According to Wala’s notes of that session with Allen, he said he had intended to rape the girls but was startled by a van driving down a nearby private driveway.

    that vehicle, according to the testimonybelonged to Brad Weber, who lives near the trail, and who told jurors he was returning home from work in his white van around 2:30 p.m. on February 13, 2017 – minutes after the girls were allegedly forced to leave the path and into the forest.

    Richard Allen dueling footage: One who claimed innocence, one who confessed

    That van, McLeland reiterated to jurors during his closing argumentit was a “only the killer would know” detail.

    Before Allen’s trial, his defense attorneys he tried to keep his statements to be presented to jurors, arguing that they were done involuntarily and in the throes of a severe mental health crisis while in solitary confinement. But Gull decided to allow statements to be presented to jurors, ruling that the conditions of Allen’s remand were “not intended to coerce confessions” from him.

    Questions about whether those statements, many of which Allen made while on antipsychotic medication, should have been admitted into evidence will likely be raised on appeal, Tompkins said.

    Another issue that could be raised is Gull’s decision to block a metallurgist from the testimony, Tompkins said.

    The testimony of Dr. William Tobin was meant to challenge the state’s findings that a bullet casing found 6 inches from Abby’s feet was cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226 .40 caliber handgun. Prosecutors argued that while Tobin is a recognized expert in metallurgy, the field that studies metallic elements, he “is not a firearms expert, has no training in identifying firearms, and has never performed a firearms examination.” .

    Burden of justice: Jurors in the Delphi murder case will face unimaginable pressure, a life-changing decision

    That unspent round was the only physical evidence connecting Allen to the crime scene, and jurors heard from a Indiana State Police Firearms Examiner whose analysis concluded that the cartridge was related to Allen’s gun.

    “Once you leave that forensic evidence, not allowing the metallurgist to testify becomes a problem,” Tompkins said.

    How will the appeal process work?

    Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20. He then has 30 days to file a notice to appeal his conviction and sentence. His appellate lawyers and the state, which will be represented by the Attorney General’s Office, will each file lengthy briefs outlining their arguments. And there will likely be a hearing before the Indiana Court of Appeals.

    Possible outcomes, according to Mendes: Appeals court finds no trial court error. Or find that there were errors, but they were not significant enough to affect the outcome of the trial. In either case, Allen’s conviction stands. Allen can then ask the Indiana Supreme Court to review the case.

    Another possible outcome: The appeals court finds that there were multiple or significant errors if Allen’s conviction should be overturned. If that happens, the case will be sent back to Gull’s court. McLeland will have to decide whether or not to try Allen again. That means McLeland, as the elected prosecutor, will have to ask Carroll County officials to spend more taxpayer dollars to put him back on trial. Carroll County Council has already appropriated just over $4 million on the case.

    There is another, albeit remote, possibility: a plea deal. If the case is sent back to Gull’s court, the parties may decide to negotiate a plea deal to avoid yet another expensive and contentious trial.

    “That’s a theoretical possibility,” Tompkins said. But, he added: “This is a defendant whose defense was ‘I didn’t do it.’ As a defense attorney, you don’t tell a client who is innocent to go in and plead anyway.”

    IndyStar reporters Sarah Nelson, Noe Padilla and Lafayette Journal & Courier reporter Ron Wilkins contributed to this story. Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at [email protected].

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