Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland will have two days in June to persuade Special Judge Frances Gull that Richard Allen — the man accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams in 2017 — should remain jailed while awaiting trial.
Gull — with agreement from McLeland and Richard Allen’s attorneys — also vacated Allen’s March 20 trial date during Friday’s hearing. The new trial date will be set during the June bail hearing.
Gull set aside June 15 — and June 16, if needed — for a bail hearing for Allen.
Prosecutors accuse Allen of forcing the girls off of the trails east of the city near the Monon High Bridge. He is accused of killing the teenage girls about a quarter of a mile east of the bridge on the north bank of the Deer Creek.
The burden is on the prosecutor to persuade Gull that Allen is more than likely the killer and should remain in jail awaiting trial, according to Indiana law and McLeland’s motion filed earlier this week.
In Indiana, every defendant is entitled to a bond set high enough to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court. The exceptions are the charges of murder and treason. In those instances, bond may be granted if the state’s case is weak.
Allen’s attorneys requested on Feb. 7 that the bail hearing scheduled for Friday be continued, and McLeland did not object to it.
Friday’s hearing became a housekeeping hearing, setting dates and outlining what is to come in the next few months. The hearing also pushed the March 20 trial date further into 2023.
The defense’s reason for the delay in the bond hearing is that they have not received all the evidence in discovery, and Allen’s attorneys will need time to go through it once everything is turned over to the defense team.
“There’s no way practical to have a bond hearing without offering up the discovery,” said Brad Rozzi, one of Allen’s attorneys, who also noted that they continue to receive discovery documents from the prosecutor.
“I would anticipate we would want to set the bond hearing out to May,” Rozzi said during the hearing held over remote links from Gull’s courtroom in Fort Wayne, Rozzi’s office, defense attorney Andrew Baldwin’s office, the Carroll County Superior Courtroom and the Westville Correctional Facility.
Allen’s defense team also filed a motion to reset Allen’s trial date, indicating that March 20 was not realistic.
“It would be a shock to me if we could be ready by the end of the year,” Baldwin said.
“I’m sorry to say that, Rick,” Baldwin said, addressing Allen.
Everyone agreed to set the new trial date during the June hearings.
Defense indicated they planned to begin depositions of witnesses started in April and May, but they won’t be ready for trial for months after that.
Lastly, the motion filed by media intervenors, including Gannett, the J&C’s parent company, was granted.
That media intervenors’ motion requested to see the Oct. 28 motion McLeland filed to seal the charging documents and the probable cause affidavit.
McLelenad indicated he did not oppose releasing his motion, and Gull ordered it unsealed.
The Oct. 28 motion should be available for public inspection at mycase.in.gov after Gull signs the order.