INDIANAPOLIS — The next step in the Delphi murders case is in the hands of the Indiana Supreme Court.
The judge in the case appointed new public defenders for Richard Allen, but his original attorneys have not given up their fight to stay on the case.
Allen is accused of killing Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in February 2017.
The next big day on the schedule for the case is Nov. 9. That has to do with a separate case before the Indiana Supreme Court. The state's highest court is considering a request to order Judge Frances Gull to follow court rules or correct mistakes in the case.
Attorneys argue the judge has kept court records sealed that should be made public.
On Tuesday, Gull refused to reinstate Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi as Allen's attorneys.
13News spoke with longtime defense attorney Ben Jaffe Wednesday afternoon. He said the state's high court has great leeway in how they rule on the petition.
"I think they could reinstate these attorneys as the attorneys of record as the appropriate attorneys," Jaffe said. "I think they could, you know, acknowledge their continued representation as pro bono counsel if they want. I think there's quite a bit they could do there. And the Supreme Court's well aware, this is getting a lot of press. This is getting a lot of attention, national attention, so I do think they'll be careful and thoughtful in the way they look at this."
Allen has made it clear that he wants Baldwin and Rozzi to continue as his counsel.
Attorneys independent of the Delphi criminal case filed a petition with the Supreme Court against Gull for a writ of mandamus and prohibition. That's a legal term that asks the high court to order a lower court to follow the rules or correct mistakes.
On Tuesday, Gull refused to let Baldwin and Rozzi continue as Allen's attorneys. She said they engaged in "gross negligence," which they said, "that's the court's opinion."
"There hasn't been a clear showing that there is some gross negligence," Jaffe said. "And even if there was, does it warrant the removal or does that give the court an actual authority to remove them? Those are still unanswered questions."
Jaffe believes the writ of mandamus could actually open the door for the state Supreme Court to reinstate Baldwin and Rozzi. He said the discussion in chambers with Gull before the Oct. 19 hearing where they verbally agreed to resign could be critical evidence.
"This recording from the in chambers discussion that led to all this kind of blowing up, that will be of particular interest to a higher court, but we'll get some discussion, at least, or some direction on what limitations Judge Gall has in her rulings, whether she's overstepped those bounds, and I believe the Supreme Court has quite a bit of leeway to do what they want to do," Jaffe said.
Allen's new court-appointed attorneys, William S. Lebrato and Robert C. Scremin, agreed to a pushed-back trial date of Oct. 15-31, 2024.