The judge assigned to oversee the trial of Richard Allen, who is accused of murdering two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, back in 2017, was recently in the hospital due to an “urgent medical condition.”
Judge Fran Gull had met with attorneys in the case on October 31, but by November 2, she went to her doctor complaining of feeling sick for several days, Fox 59 reported.
“Her doctor concluded that she required treatment for an urgent medical condition,” Allen County court administrator John McGauley said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “Judge Gull was subsequently admitted to a Fort Wayne hospital for inpatient treatment for several days.”
The statement also said that other county judges, as well as colleagues, had been helping Gull with her caseload since her hospitalization.
“Since then, she has been working from home in coordination with her Allen Superior Court colleagues,” the statement said. “Her fellow Criminal Division Judges are handling Judge Gull’s court calendar temporarily until she returns to the office, which she expects to be soon.”
The statement did not clarify whether those judges and colleagues were helping Gull on the case against Allen.
Around the same time Gull’s condition was reported, she released the transcript of her closed-door meeting with Allen’s former defense attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Brad Rozzi. The transcript, first obtained by WTHR, shows the judge planned to remove the two attorneys prior to her public announcement they had withdrawn.
At the meeting, which included Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland, the group discussed a leak of documents from Baldwin’s office, but Judge Gull stated that was not the only reason she wanted the attorneys removed from representing Allen. Gull said the attorneys “potentially” violated the Rules of Professional Responsibility. She told Baldwin he was “grossly negligent” for sending a sensitive email to a “Brad” who was not Rozzi, and questioned whether the two attorneys had fully cooperated with a gag order she had filed. She also said she had evidence the attorneys “left materials all over a conference-room table, accessible to anyone.”
“It pains me to say this, but the totality of these circumstances demonstrate gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the defense team,” Gull said. “I am unsatisfied with your representation of Mr. Allen. I am gravely concerned about his rights to have competent, non-negligent representation. He currently doesn’t have that right now.”
Gull then said she told them this information privately but would say it in open court if they didn’t withdraw. From the transcript:
Rozzi: “So basically, what you’re saying is ‘You guys either quit on your own accord or you make me fire you?’ That’s what-“
Gull: “No. I’m saying to you that this is my this is what [I] plan to say in court on the record when we convene at two o’clock.”
Rozzi: “Well, so are – is the culmination of that that you’re removing us from the case?”
Gull: “I will, based on what I’ve just shared with you.”
A little later in the conversation, Rozzi told Gull she had “ambushed” him and Baldwin into a “forced resignation” without giving them a real opportunity to prepare for the meeting.
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“The options I’ve been given without any notice the Court really are either I withdraw or I’m gonna be publicly shamed,” Rozzi said, “And that’s the way I see this. And I think that public shaming is not only – there’s not only a professional element to that, I think there’s a personal element too.”
As for the leak, Prosecutor McLeland said he was concerned it wasn’t the only leak in the case, and Rozzi said he had seen TV anchors holding evidence while reporting, arguing that evidence will be leaked during a trial this high-profile.
“The point here is, I’m gonna say this maybe a little loosely, but forgive me, don’t care,” Rozzi said. “I don’t care that all this stuff is out there, because it’s been out there for five or six years. I don’t have time, he doesn’t have time, he doesn’t have time to sit and try to marshal all of this stuff while this case is ongoing, because there’s no end to it.”
Rozzi and Baldwin did withdraw from the case but tried to represent Allen pro bono. Judge Gull denied them that opportunity.
In response, concerned attorneys not directly affiliated with the case petitioned the Indiana Supreme Court to replace Gull.
Allen, 51, is accused of murdering 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German in a case that has attracted national attention.