AP photojournalist’s cameras seized outside Indiana courthouse

A photojournalist for The Associated Press was one of several journalists whose cameras were seized outside a courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, on Oct. 18, 2024, ahead of a murder trial with strict media access restrictions.

In a ruling in June ahead of the trial for Richard Allen in the alleged murder of two teens in 2017, Special Judge Frances Gull wrote that “the court has lost confidence in the ability of the media to cover hearings appropriately.” Gull then gave a media orientation Oct. 17, the Indianapolis Star reported, specifying that photographs or video of jurors was forbidden, and that no electronic devices would be permitted in the courtroom.

Journal & Courier photojournalist Alex Martin told the Star that the following morning he saw two vans approaching the Carroll County Courthouse where tarps had been placed over the fences. Martin said he lowered one camera to his hip and placed a second on the ground.

After the passengers disembarked, officers arrived and confiscated his cameras, as well as a broadcast camera belonging to NBC News and a still camera belonging to an unidentified photojournalist, according to multiple media reports. The AP reported that two cameras were also seized from one of its photojournalists, believed to be Michael Conroy.

Conroy did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Martin told the Star that he and the other visual journalists had been standing in an approved area outside the courthouse. It has yet to be determined if and when the cameras will be returned, but the trial is expected to last four weeks.