DELPHI, Ind. — In a series of new court filings, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland is defending an October 2022 search warrant served by investigators at the home of Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen. McLeland is also strongly arguing against cameras in the courtroom during proceedings in the case.
The documents were submitted roughly one week after attorneys for Allen submitted a filing outlining why they believe the girls were "ritualistically sacrificed" and leveled accusations against lead detectives of ignoring or intentionally suppressing that evidence for years.
McLeland wrote the state believes the allegations made by Allen's defense "are not supported by evidence that they have collected," describing the 136-page memorandum as "colorful, dramatic and highly unprofessional."
October 2022 search warrant
McLeland responded to allegations from Allen's defense that the Carroll County sheriff "intentionally concealed evidence ... and lied about other evidence" while seeking a warrant to search Allen's home.
"Sheriff Tony Liggett did not intentionally or recklessly omit evidence or lie about evidence in the probable cause affidavit or lie about evidence to support the search warrant," McLeland wrote.
Broadcasting proceedings
The state also expressed serious concerns about allowing proceedings in the case to be broadcast, citing what it called the defense team's "extrajudicial grandstanding" with the filing of certain court documents that were publicly released.
Among the claims made by the defense in the filings:
- The statements the defense has made are "not true" and could be made to show on national media.
- That the release of the defense's document to support search warrant evidence only contained 13 pages relevant and the "remaining 90% of the Memorandum outlines its fanciful defense for social media to devour."
- That cameras could be distracting to the proceedings, and broadcasting "will allow the Defense team to grandstand on camera about the imagined bad motives of the State actors" such as the prosecutor, sheriff and state police.
- That broadcasting evidence to the public "allows for the potential of members of the public seeing gruesome images of the deaths of two little girls while also seeing the toll that it takes on the family to see this tragedy play out in court."
- That AI could be used to create "deep fakes" that can alter what is actually happening in court.
In his court filing, the prosecutor said broadcasting pre-trial hearings could be especially problematic because it could taint potential jurors. That concern is something the court will have to strongly consider, according to longtime defense attorney and former deputy prosecutor Todd Sallee, who reviewed the new court filings for 13News.
“The state has a huge interest in not having the pre-trial information recorded or broadcast because there are pre-trial motions that are going to deal with the admissibility of evidence and the credibility of witnesses,” Sallee said. “So the state has an interest in not muddying the water so to speak in terms of its jury pool and not having predisposed biases and opinions coming in from the public about the evidence and the evidentiary issues in the case.”
The prosecutor also expressed concern that cameras in the courtroom might accidentally show the identities of jurors or underage witnesses.
Now that both the defense and prosecutor have made their arguments, Sallee said it will be up to special Judge Frances Gull to determine whether the benefit of broadcasting the court hearings outweighs the concerns outlined by the state.
“It’s certainly going to be a delicate balance: the idea of the public’s right to access the information versus the privacy of those individuals that are involved in the circumstances, including the families on both sides,” Sallee told 13News.
A group of news organizations, including WTHR parent company TEGNA, have filed a statement in support of the defense's motion to allow cameras in the courtroom for the Delphi murders proceedings.
As Judge Gull weighs the arguments made by all sides, 13 Investigates has learned that court administrative staff have already scouted potential media locations and camera angles inside the courtroom, with an additional site visit planned next month.
Medical records sought
In one of the filings, prosecutors requested Allen's medical records from Westfield Correctional Facility. This comes after the defense has filed motions questioning Allen's mental health and physical wellbeing at the facility.
Prosecutors stated they want the records in order to respond to the defense's claims.
Sealed filing
The prosecutor's office also filed a document titled, "Motion for All Future Pleadings and Filings to be Sealed for the Court's Review Before Being Released to the Public." The document is sealed.
The judge in the case has not yet ruled on any of the defense requests to suppress the evidence found during the October 2022 search of Allen's home. The judge has also not ruled on the defense request to have cameras in the courtroom or the prosecution's new filings.