Indiana photojournalist’s cameras confiscated outside courthouse

Alex Martin, a photojournalist for the Journal & Courier, 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.

The following morning, Martin told the Star, 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 van’s passengers disembarked, officers arrived and confiscated Martin’s cameras, as well as two belonging to Associated Press photojournalist Michael Conroy, a broadcast camera belonging to NBC News and a still camera belonging to an unidentified photojournalist, according to multiple media reports.

“I wasn’t taking pictures of jurors,” Martin told the Star. He also noted 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.

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