DELPHI — Prosecutors say that allowing cameras in court for the high profile Delphi murder trial risks creating a "circus atmosphere" where 15-second video clips could give an inaccurate impression of the justice system.
This comes after Richard Allen, the man charged with killing Abigail Williams and Liberty German in Delphi in 2017, asked a judge to allow cameras in court for all future proceedings.
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Allen's lawyers Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin argued that allowing cameras will ensure fairness, reduce the risk of unpredictable witness behavior and boost the public's trust in the judicial system.
On Monday, The News Media Coalition submitted a 'request to broadcast' to the Carroll County Circuit Court. The request asks the court to allow the broadcasting, televising, recording, digital streaming and photographing for all future court proceedings in the Allen case.
In a response and objection filed Monday, prosecutors express 'serious concerns' to the request to broadcast.
The prosecution's objection and response addresses a 136 page document filed by Allen's lawyers on Sept. 18, which claims Abby and Libby were killed by Odinists.
Prosecutors claim that only 13 of those pages were relevant to the case and that
the remaining 90% "outlines its fanciful defense for social media to devour."
In the objection, prosecutors also claim that the documents are "colorful, dramatic and high unprofessional."
Additionally, prosecutors claim that broadcasting court proceedings may become distracting and lists several supporting arguments for this claim, including:
- The number of media outlets that may request access to the broadcast
- The fact that the Judge is in an unfamiliar courtroom
- The length and complexity of the case
- The duty to protect the jurors identities
- The sensitive content that will be presented at the trial and pretrial hearings
In their response, prosecutors state that they do not agree with the defendant's argument that cameras in the courtroom will reduce unpredictable behavior from witnesses.
"The State believes that having cameras in the courtroom will give participants
in the courtroom nationwide platform to further their own agenda to build their brand, promote whatever platform they want and generally showboat, instead of focus on presenting the evidence in professional concise manner," their response states.
Prosecutors say that they trust the court will rule "in the best interests of justice" but to consider these points when making its decision on whether or not to broadcast future pretrial and trial hearings.
