The attorney representing Richard Allen, the Carroll County man charged in the February 2017 killing of two teenagers, said during a hearing Thursday that alleged jailhouse confessions by his client were made under distress.
Defense Attorney Bradley Rozzi blamed the alleged confessions on Allen’s deteriorating mental and physical health, specifically due to his treatment at the Westville Correctional Facility in northern Indiana, where Allen has been housed since late last year.
“One minute he’s saying one thing, the next he’s not,” Rozzi said Thursday during a court hearing inside Carroll Circuit Court.
In April, Allen’s defense team filed an emergency motion to “modify safekeeping,” claiming that Allen’s physical and mental health had been deteriorating rapidly since being placed at the prison.
It was a situation that Rozzi likened in his motion to a “prisoner of war.”
Some of Rozzi’s specific complaints claimed that Allen had reportedly been “entombed” in a cell “no larger than that of a dog kennel,” was forced to sleep on a concrete floor, was only allowed showers once or twice a week, was not allowed to visit with his wife and family and was not provided adequate outside time, court documents state.
A few days later, Judge Frances Gull granted Rozzi’s motion, ordering the Carroll County sheriff to transfer Allen to another suitable facility in the Indiana Department of Correction, provided that space is available.
But according to John Galipeau, warden of Westville Correctional Facility, Allen’s treatment at his facility has been anything but inhumane.
During the warden’s witness testimony on Thursday, Galipeau told the court that Allen is in a maximum-security section of the prison due to safety concerns, but he still has “everything identical to other inmates.”
For instance, per the warden, Allen reportedly has access to a tablet while at the facility, and he’s been inside the same cell for the duration of his time there.
Galipeau added that Allen is also allowed to change his clothing whenever he wants, has daily medical health checks and has normal vital signs.
The cell Allen stays in while at the prison is also identical in size compared to the rest of the cells in the maximum-security area, Galipeau noted, though Allen’s is equipped with a 24-hour camera that records only video.
“I don’t have concerns for his safety,” Galipeau testified, when asked what would happen if Allen was made to stay at the prison.
However, he did note that Allen is the only pretrial defendant currently housed inside the maximum-security area of the prison, and he’s also currently on suicide watch.
But Max Baker, an intern with Rozzi’s law office, disagreed with the warden’s stance, noting that he’s personally seen the conditions at the prison through his own eyes during four separate visits with Allen while the defendant’s been incarcerated there.
For several minutes on Thursday, Baker painted a picture of a facility that he said does not allow the defense team opportunities to have private conversations with their client, reportedly video recording those meetings while Allen sits in the middle of the room and faces the camera.
Baker added that each time he went to the facility to visit with Allen, Allen’s mental and physical demeanor changed as well.
“Rick looked and sounded absolutely awful,” Baker said, referring to a specific meeting on May 30 at the prison. “He seems fragile when he talks. He’s much more anxious, much more repetitive.”
Baker also testified that Allen’s face was “bruised” and “scarring” during that May 30 encounter, likening it to a “really bad sun tan.”
“Every single time I visited him, he looked weaker,” he told the court, adding that even during the attorney-client meetings, Allen was consistently in full shackles and restraints.
But if Allen doesn’t stay at Westville Correctional Facility, where will he go?
During his testimony on Thursday, Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett told the court that he has safety concerns if Allen were to be sent back to the Carroll County Jail.
“Our jail is extremely small,” Liggett said, adding that there is typically only one correctional officer on duty at the jail at a time.
Liggett also noted that the transport of Allen to and from his hearings inside the Carroll County Courthouse would also be challenging, but the sheriff said they would do it if they had to.
One of the options also discussed throughout the last couple months was the idea of having Allen sent to the Cass County Jail.
On Thursday, Cass County Sheriff Ed Schroeder testified that while the facility could logistically handle a defendant like Allen, the sheriff also really doesn’t really “want him” and the extra security concerns that come with housing a defendant from such a high-profile case.
At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Gull told the court that she would take all the information presented by both sides under advisement, and her ruling on where Allen ultimately ends up is expected to be released in the coming days.
“I’m not asking to put him in a Holiday Inn,” Rozzi said. “… What matters here is the law. … We have no privacy. There’s no privacy when we meet with him. … It’s starting to get to the fact that it’s overwhelming. You (Gull) have the power of the pen. It would remove 90% of the burden. This is not rocket science.”
But while Gull’s decision on where Allen ends up is still forthcoming, there was one issue ruled on during Thursday’s hearing.
Gull ordered a temporary restraining order against the Indiana Department of Correction and its use of cameras during attorney-client meetings between Allen and his defense team, a win for the defense.
It’s unclear at this time when Allen is due back in court, but a jury trial is currently slated for January 2024.
It was on Feb. 14, 2017 that the bodies of Williams and German were found near the Monon High Bridge area, a day after they were reported missing after not returning to their pickup spot.
Five years later, on Oct. 31, 2022, investigators announced they had charged Allen with two felony counts of murder connected to the girls’ deaths.
During an interview with investigators, Allen admitted to being on the Monon High Bridge around the time the girls went missing, but he said he did not see Williams or German that day.