DELPHI, IN— This from wthr.com: The Court of Appeals of Indiana has granted Richard Allen’s attorneys’ request for oral arguments in the Delphi murders appeal.
The oral argument is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at the Supreme Court Courtroom at the Indiana Statehouse.
According to the filing, the prosecution and defense will each be allowed 30 minutes for argument to a panel of three judges.
Allen’s attorneys say the jury never got to hear evidence that would have proven his innocence.
The attorneys also responded to the state’s brief, which claimed Allen should not be granted an appeal.
Allen’s appeal team wrote, “The only way our justice system works is if the jury hears the full truth. Because the jury only heard half the story, Allen was denied a fair trial.”
Starting with Allen’s arrest, his lawyers raised serious concerns with the investigation and the trial, ultimately appealing to the Indiana Supreme Court over their conflicts with Special Judge Frances Gull.
Those issues feature prominently on the appeal, which was filed Dec. 17.
The appeal team says that the court should not have admitted the evidence from Allen’s home because law enforcement omitted and altered witness descriptions to make Allen seem like the man in the “Bridge Guy” video.
They say that Allen’s confessions came when he was deeply ill in “unprecedented confinement” and that the statements violated federal due process and Indiana’s protections against unnecessary rigor.
The attorneys finally say that Allen’s entire trial was unfair because the court excluded evidence that may have proven Allen’s innocence and undermine the State’s case. They say the court allowed “inadmissible hearsay” to help the prosecution while blocking Allen from showing the circumstances of his confession. They say the court also prevented them from offering an alternative suspect for the murders.
