DELPHI, Ind. - Jurors saw additional videos of Richard Allen's time in custody.
Allen faces four counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge. Police arrested him in October 2022.
On Saturday, jurors watched more than a dozen camcorder videos of Allen at Westville Correctional Facility where he was held awaiting trial. The videos were shown only to the jury, with the screen pointed away from the gallery. The defense said this was "out of respect" for Allen.
The videos were intended to show his mental decline. A defense expert testified about that decline during Monday's session.
After that, the jury saw additional footage. The state objected again, which Special Judge Fran Gull overruled. As it had been on Saturday, the monitor was pointed away from the gallery.
Max Baker, a defense intern, took the stand. He said he went through a large volume of video showing Allen in custody. He whittled that down to about 20 hours and further reduced it to what he considered to be the "most important" footage. The videos shown in court Monday were from April 12, 2023, and May 25, 2023.
Reporting on Saturday's proceedings relied on jurors' various reactions to what transpired on screen. Monday's media notes were much the same as defense attorney Bradley Rozzi played the clips in two-minute increments.
According to the media pool notes, several jurors looked "visibly upset" and "winced" as they watched the first video. One juror looked away for much of the time and shook his head while it played.
During the second video, jurors didn't appear to have as strong of a reaction. Jurors took notes during both videos.
Cross-examination became heated as Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland, who had objected to showing the video to jurors in the first place, grilled Baker on the stand.
He first asked if Allen would be safer in his cell by himself than in the general population, leading to an objection from Rozzi that Gull sustained.
Baker told McLeland he went through "hundreds of hours" of video. The prosecutor noted that Baker said the videos shown in court were the "most important" ones and asked him why.
Baker answered that the videos "showed Richard Allen's life in prison."
McLeland suggested the videos were meant to curry sympathy with the jury.
"If that's how you want to interpret it," Baker answered.
"You picked those [clips] to show the worst conditions?" McLeland asked.
"I could show more," Baker answered.
McLeland asked Baker if he showed the videos to make Allen the victim.
"I wasn't trying to victimize him," Baker said, adding that he wanted to give an "accurate description" of Allen's life in prison.
McLeland then asked, "Abby and Libby are victims, yes?"
That led to an objection from Rozzi, which Gull sustained.
Rozzi, on re-direct, asked Baker if he chose the videos to tell people the truth, to which Baker responded, "Yes."
McLeland accused Baker of being selective about the videos the defense showed in court.
"You didn't want the jury to see other videos," McLeland said.
"As far as I can tell, you didn't want the jury to see other videos either," Baker retorted. "You objected."
The exchange became contentious, with multiple objections and attorneys talking over each other.
A juror asked Baker if he was directed to only pick the "worst videos" of Allen in custody. He answered that he was given discretion and was prepared to show additional videos until the state objected.
Baker mentioned that Saturday's videos included footage of Allen meeting with prison psychologist Dr. Monica Wala, showering and being subdued with a Taser. The footage also showed Allen eating feces and banging his head against a wall.
McLeland asked Baker if he showed any videos from the days Allen made his confessions. Baker answered that he didn't have the dates in front of him.
Court went into recess around 12:30 p.m. with the proceedings resuming at 1:30 p.m.