INDIANA: A DUBIOUS PROSECUTION FAILS -- FOR ONCE

A good precedent for stopping lazy prosecutions: "Justice delayed is justice denied"

Charges against an Anderson man have been dropped after prosecutors failed to bring him to trial in a timely manner, a judge ruled Wednesday. Two murder charges and a single count of arson resulting in bodily injury were dropped against Rex David Delph, 42, in connection with the 2004 deaths of his wife, Robynn, and son, Joshua.

Specifically, Madison Circuit Court Judge Fredrick Spencer ruled the prosecutor’s office didn’t share evidence in a timely manner and violated Delph’s right to have a trial within a year of his being charged. “Now, on the eve of the trial, the state unearths physical evidence ... which the defendant had been told did not exist,” Spencer writes in his order dropping the charges. “The defense had been provided photographs of two decorative oil lamps that according to the state could be used to start or accelerate the fatal fire. This delay — so defense experts could examine the physical evidence crucial to both sides — is without question attributed to the state.”

Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings disagreed with Spencer’s decision. “I think it’s very disappointing,” Cummings said, “and an insult to the Anderson Police Department and Anderson Fire Department.” He said the pair of oil lamps couldn’t be located and weren’t going to be introduced during trial, meaning they were grounds for delaying the case. He also said Spencer is blaming his office for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for not sharing potential evidence with the defense. “We objected to every continuance,” Cummings said. “ATF didn’t do it, and he blames the state. “His decision is just hard to understand. But we’ve grown used to that with Judge Spencer.” Cummings said his office will appeal Spencer’s decision, and Delph could yet face a jury trial. “We will make every attempt to appeal this case,” Cummings said.

Delph, reached by phone Wednesday, declined comment, referring questions to his attorney, Anderson-based Zaki Ali. “It is pleasing, however, there’s still a heck of a lot of road to travel on this,” Ali said, referring to the likelihood the case will be appealed. “If the state would have provided us with the evidence in a timely manner, like they were supposed to do, this trial would be over.’ Delph is still living in Madison County.

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A comment:

Undoubtedly, some folks in Anderson are saying that releasing Rex David Delph is a miscarriage of justice. He was, after all accused of setting a fire that killed his wife and son. But the Madison Circuit Court judge released Delph because the prosecution botched some of the most basic preparations for trial, causing repeated delays.

Whether Delph committed the awful crime he was charged with, it’s a fact that innocent defendants are sometimes held on false charges, charges that could only be disproved through trials. Without centuries of custom and legal precedent compelling prosecutors to lay out their charges in open court in timely fashion, anyone could find themselves jailed indefinitely, awaiting a trial that never came to pass.

Safeguards such as the right to speedy trial protect the innocent. When lawyers stumble, they sometimes protect the guilty, too. That doesn’t make such rights any less essential to American freedom.

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