DELPHI, Ind. (Court TV) — The Indiana man charged with the 2017 double murder of best friends Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German is asking the court to allow broadcast cameras for all future proceedings.
Attorneys for Delphi murders suspect Richard M. Allen filed the Motion for Broadcasting Order in Carroll County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
In 2021, the law that once banned the broadcasting of legal proceedings in Indiana, was amended, leaving it up to the trial court judge’s discretion.
Officers escort Richard Matthew Allen, out of the Carroll County courthouse following a hearing, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, in Delphi, Ind. Allen was charged last month with two counts of murder in the killings of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
The motion cites a four-month pilot program that took place before the broadcast law was amended, which allowed cameras in select Indiana courtrooms. The judge presiding over Allen’s case, Hon. Frances C. Gull, reportedly participated in that program and reported favorable experiences in an interview with Indiana Court Times in March 2022, according to the defendant’s motion.
The motion also addresses concerns over the protection of minor witnesses, saying it is not a concern because most witnesses who were underage when the girls were killed in 2017 are now adults.
Defendants often attempt to shield their cases from the public. Yet, in Allen’s case, the defendant’s motion argues that because law enforcement sought the public’s help to solve the case, permitting cameras would allow the public to witness proceedings through their finality and build trust with people moving forward.
Allen has appeared in Carroll County Circuit Court a handful of times since his arrest in October 2022. None of those proceedings have been televised, but all have garnered national interest.
In a second filing Wednesday, Allen’s attorneys filed an amended motion to suppress all evidence gathered from Allen’s home on Oct. 13, 2022.
Defense attorneys Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin allege that current Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett made false and misleading representations “without regard for the truth.” Rozzi and Baldwin further allege that the officers executing the warrant exceeded its scope.
READ MORE: Delphi Murders Suspect Richard Allen Begs for Public Defender
Flowers are placed at the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, near where Liberty German and Abigail Williams were last seen and where the bodies were discovered. The Indiana State Police announced an arrest in the murders of the two teenage girls killed during a 2017 hiking trip in northern Indiana. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Abby, 13, and Libby, 14, were reported missing from a popular hiking trail in Delphi, Indiana, on Feb. 13, 2017. Images posted by Libby to social media showed the girls on the abandoned Monon High bridge adjacent to the trails. The following day, their bodies were found a quarter of a mile away on private property. Law enforcement soon released a still image of a man pictured on the bridge and asked the public to help identify him.
No suspect was ever named until Oct. 2022. when police announced Allen was in custody. Charging documents were sealed before the public had been notified of the arrest, but redacted versions were made public later.
Between 2017 and 2022, law enforcement officials and family members of Abby and Libby have appeared on numerous local and national television programs, documentaries, and podcasts. Members of the Delphi family have even appeared at CrimeCon true crime conventions to keep the case in the spotlight.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated the victims went missing Feb. 14, 2017.
