Allen Co. Judicial hopeful Christina Gull suspended and moved to a new division

UPDATE included below.

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ---Allen County judicial candidate Christina Gull was suspended from her job in the prosecutor’s office for not reviewing cases assigned to her in a timely fashion.

The week suspension from July 6-10 came almost immediately after two sex crimes cases were continued on July 2 in Allen Superior Court. Gull was the lead deputy prosecutor on both cases.

Michael McAlexander, Allen County Prosecutor, sent The Probable Cause an explanation after our requests.

Here is the response in full:

On Thursday, July 16, 2026 and again on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, the Allen County Prosecutor's Office received requests from you under the Access to Public Records Act regarding the suspension of Christina Gull. Upon a particularized request, IC 5-14-3-4(b)(8)(C) requires us to provide the factual basis for a disciplinary action resulting in suspension, demotion or discharge of a public employee.

Ms. Gull was suspended for one week without pay, she was transferred to a

different division of the office, and her salary was reduced.

Below is the factual basis for this employee's disciplinary action. As part of her duties in the Sex Crimes Division, in the Fall of 2025, this employee was assigned cases submitted by law enforcement agencies to review for charging decisions.

When these cases were not reviewed in a timely manner, the issue was addressed internally with emails, conversations, and meetings. The vast majority of these cases were not reviewed by this employee until late June of 2026.

On June 30, 2026, this employee had two jury trials scheduled. It is the expectation of the Allen County Prosecutor's Office that deputies shall be prepared on all cases they have scheduled for trial on a particular date, regardless of the anticipated trial order, to ensure the speedy trial rights of defendants and expedited justice for victims.

This is especially true as busy court calendars can result in a continuance of several months. When the employee's two cases were up on the Court's calendar to go forward, the employee requested last minute continuances on both cases due to lack of preparation. Court records indicate these continuances were granted, necessitating

significant delays in both cases.

Christina Gull's most recent hire date is December 28, 2022. Please be advised that there is no record indicating the number of murder or attempted murder trials in which Ms. Gull has served as the lead trial deputy"

Christina Gull

Gull announced her decision to run for Allen County criminal court judge in January in hopes that she will take over the position from her mother, Judge Frances Gull, who's been on the bench for about 30 years.

Two other candidates - Magistrate Samuel Keirns and Magistrate Jesus "Rick" Trevino - are also on the ballot.

The child molest cases on Judge David Zent’s calendar were scheduled to go to trial that week and are now continued - the legal word for delayed - until October, one week apart.

The cases are subject to Criminal Rule 4 which mandates that the state has a year to bring a defendant to trial. Delaying a trial costs the state time.

An explanation taken directly from Indiana Court Rules, a website under the aegis of the Indiana Supreme Court, gives details on the rule.

“No person can be held on recognizance or otherwise to answer a criminal charge for a period in aggregate exceeding one year from the date the criminal charge against such defendant is filed, or from the date of the arrest on such charge, whichever is later.

Delays caused by a defendant, congestion of the court calendar, or an emergency are excluded from the time period. 

If a defendant is held beyond the time limit of this section and moves for dismissal, the criminal charge against the defendant must be dismissed. 

The one-year time limit does not apply to a retrial following a mistrial or vacation of a conviction or sentence following a motion to correct error, appeal, post-conviction relief, or habeas corpus proceedings. The trial court must commence the retrial within a reasonable time.”

The clock is ticking, but it isn’t the only complaint reported to The Probable Cause. One person who witnessed the recent courtroom drama - neither an attorney nor prosecutor nor court official- said that day witnesses showed up because they weren’t told the case was being continued. They weren’t happy about it.

Numerous sources have identified Gull as the deputy prosecutor in a child sex crimes case in Hamilton County prior to her hiring at the Allen County Prosecutor’s office that ended in a fine against the prosecutor’s office.

Gregory Whitmore’s case was dismissed sometime after March 2022 after Hamilton County Judge William Hughes accused the prosecution of not turning over discovery (evidence).

Judge Fran Gull at her daughter's announcement for judge.

The prosecutor's office under Lee Buckingham was fined $105,000.

Joshua Kochar, the current Hamilton County prosecutor, would not speak directly on that case and was not the prosecutor when Gull left.

“My understanding is that she left the office after Lee Buckingham lost the primary to Greg Garrison. She was not fired. She willingly left the office sometime after he (Buckingham) lost the primary,” Kochar said in a direct quote.

After checking personnel files, he sent an email: “12/23/2022 was her last day. Right before Garrison took over for Buckingham as Prosecutor. She left of her own volition.”

It’s impossible to track the Whitmore case on Odyssey, the state’s online court records website. There is no record of Gregory Whitmore.

But the case turns up in the state’s appellate court online hearing site after Hamilton County appealed Hughes’ decision on the fine.

The appeal was heard by the state’s appellate court on Oct. 3, 2023, according to an online notification.

Two phone calls to the appellate division determined that the case was dismissed and sealed.

Last week, Gull issued a statement describing the emotional distress she has gone through with the devastating illness of her father.

The Allen County Prosecutor's Office responded to a public records request, after readers asked The Probable Cause more questions on her status.

Here is new information as of Friday, July 24:

"Pursuant to your Public Record Request of July 23, 2026, please see the following:

"Christina Gull was assigned to the Sex Crimes Division since her hire date of December 28, 2022, and until July 3, 2026.

Christina Gull is assigned to a Level 1-5 felony caseload

Effective July 13, 2026

Salary prior to demotion: $108,000.00

Salary effective July 6, 2026: $95,000.00

In response to your request to “indicate whether her stated reason for her demotion would have qualified her for FMLA”, please be advised that the requested records are not disclosable under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, Indiana Code 5-14-3."

We will continue to update this story if there's new information.