Delphi murders: Judge rules against defense on key motions
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DELPHI, Ind. — Special Judge Fran Gull denied recent motions from Richard Allen’s attorneys seeking to reexamine his conviction last year in the Delphi murders case.

In an order dated Feb. 14, Gull denied the defense’s Verified Motion to Correct Error (filed on Jan. 20) and a second Verified Motion to Strike the State’s Response (filed on Feb. 14). In a separate order, she also denied the defendant’s Motion to Correct Abstract of Judgment (filed Jan. 20).

Gull’s rulings were entered into the case record on Tuesday (Feb. 18). She denied the defense’s motions without a hearing.

The rulings follow a flurry of motions in recent weeks seeking to have Allen’s conviction reexamined, with the defense citing his safekeeping order, the timeline of a van key to the case, a purported confession from another man and disputed headphone jack evidence as factors.

On Nov. 11, a jury found Allen guilty of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge. Gull sentenced him to 130 years in prison on Dec. 20.

The defense’s 24-page Motion to Correct Error sought to vacate Allen’s conviction or force a retrial. The state responded on Feb. 4 with its own filing challenging the defense’s claims.

The defense said Ron Logan, who owned the property beneath the High Bridge where the girls were found dead, confessed to an inmate named Ricci Davis years ago while both were in prison. But the state countered Davis “miserably” failed a polygraph test when investigators pushed for more information.

Davis later claimed he’d spoken to Kegan Kline, a convicted child pornographer tangentially linked to the Delphi case, who implied he, Logan and a third individual were involved in the murders. Kline told him the third individual was not Richard Allen, Davis said.

Over the weekend, FOX59/CBS4 reporter Max Lewis received a letter from Davis, who claimed he sent multiple letters to Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland about Logan’s confession that had been ignored. Davis wrote that he’s afraid the state convicted an innocent man.

The defense filed another salvo, seeking to strike the state’s response and accusing McLeland of misconduct—even suggesting the prosecutor should be held in criminal contempt for releasing photos of Libby German’s iPhone 6s in his response to the defense’s motion.

McLeland maintained Allen’s lawyers had the chance to bring up many of their claims, including Davis’ information about Logan, during its defense of Allen but chose not to.

Even though the trial is over and Allen has been sentenced, Gull still has a handful of motions to rule on. The defense filed a motion seeking to preserve all evidence related to Ricci Davis. Various media outlets have also filed motions asking for the public release of certain evidence.

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