DELPHI, Ind. — Carroll County is bracing for what will likely be the most expensive murder trial ever conducted in the rural community.
A trial date has not yet been set for Richard Allen, who is charged with the 2017 double murders of teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. But local officials are already preparing for a trial that will keep the small Indiana town under a big national spotlight.
A week before Allen’s arrest in October, the Carroll County Council approved an annual budget of about $17.5 million. In December, Carroll County Auditor Beth Myers posted a notice to alert taxpayers that the council was seeking to appropriate an additional $2.1 million for anticipated costs related to the double murder trial. The council approved the appropriations request in January, including $1,535,000 for personnel services, $530,000 for other services and $35,000 for supplies.
Myers confirmed for 13News the money was for Allen's trial but declined to comment further citing a gag order in the case imposed by special judge Frances Gull.
With just over 20,000 residents in Carroll County, $2.1 million in trial expenses would translate to about $100 for every man, woman and child in the county.
What will the money be spent on?
Conducting a big murder trial in a small community does not come cheap, and several factors are pushing the price tag for Carroll County higher.
First, the special judge and a jury will be brought in from Allen County, which is located about two hours away. That means, throughout the trial, Carroll County will need to pay for all transportation, hotel rooms, food, and entertainment for the jury and the judge’s staff.
The trial is expected to last at least a week and perhaps much longer, so the county will likely be paying for a lot of meals and hotel rooms.
Second, Richard Allen told the court he cannot afford the cost of his own defense, prompting Gull to approve his request for a public defender. Carroll County is therefore responsible for Allen’s legal bills and his two court-appointed public defenders.
“It is possible that it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Derrick Mason, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Commission. “It’s obviously expensive to provide public defense, but at the same time, it’s a mandated expense … literally mandated by the Constitution.”
Allen County is a member of the state public defender commission, which requires participating counties to ensure indigent defendants are appointed highly-qualified defense attorneys. The commission also establishes minimum compensation requirements for the public defenders hired by its member counties, which means Carroll County must pay Allen’s two public defenders at least $100 per hour.
Membership in the state public defender commission also brings good news for Carroll County taxpayers.
The commission will reimburse Carroll County for up to 40% of what it spends on Allen’s defense costs – a significant savings for a small county. If, for example, attorneys, defense experts and legal research for Allen were to cost $250,000, the public defender commission would reimburse Carroll County for $100,000 of those expenses.
“They view it as an insurance policy against a major case happening in their county that could cost a lot of money they could not otherwise afford, and that’s exactly the kind of case that we’re talking about,” Mason told 13News.
“A lot more money than they’re going to spend”
Even with partial reimbursement from the public defender commission, the cost of defense attorneys, an out-of-town jury, extra security, and other expenses for the Delphi murder trial will add up quickly for Carroll County.
Will it add up to $2.1 million dollars?
Probably not, according to Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings.
“That sounds like a lot more money than they’re going to spend,” the longtime prosecutor told 13News.
Cummings knows about expensive murder trials. His office prosecuted Frederick Baer, who killed a young mother and her 4-year-old daughter inside their Lapel home in 2004. That trial cost Madison County an extra $300,000.
And Madison County is now preparing for the trial of Carl Roy Web Boards II, who’s accused of shooting and killing Elwood police officer Noah Shahnavaz last August. The prosecutor expects that trial could cost his county up to $500,000.
Both of those are death penalty cases – the most expensive type of murder cases to prosecute due to the possibility of mandatory appeals that could last for decades.
In the Delphi case against Richard Allen, the Carroll County prosecutor has thus far not announced any plans to seek the death penalty. For that reason, Cummings does not think Carroll County will spend $2.1 million on the trial. And even if Carroll County does pursue capital murder charges against Allen, Cummings believes the case will cost far less than what the county has allocated.
“I mean...it’s good they have it set aside, but I can’t imagine they’re going to spend that much money,” the Madison County prosecutor said.
A study conducted in 2015 by the Indiana Legislative Services Agency found the average cost of a capital murder case tried before a jury was $789,581, while death penalty cases resolved by guilty plea cost an average of $433,702. Murder cases in which the prosecution sought lesser sentences (such as life without parole) cost much less, according to the report.
13 Investigates will track spending for Allen’s highly publicized trial. Legal bills for his defense must be submitted to the judge for approval before they are paid. A spokesman for the judge’s office tells 13 Investigates the judge has not yet received any invoices for public defender services in the Delphi case.