PHOENIX — A high-profile child murder trial against a former Phoenix cop and his wife has been shut down indefinitely because Goodyear police have significant and widespread issues with their evidence.
In a ruling from the bench on Wednesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Patricia Starr ordered that the trial against Germayne and Lisa Cunningham will be suspended until the court can hold an evidentiary hearing to determine the scope of the problems and their impact on the case.
The lengthy trial, which has been running for the past six months, was initially paused Monday after prosecutors disclosed thousands of pages of documents over the weekend that outlined systemic problems with police evidence.
RELATED: Major child murder trial at risk because Goodyear PD failed to track evidence
Internal police documents obtained by ABC15 reveal that Goodyear has longstanding issues with their evidence tracking software, impacting chain of custody in the Cunningham case and potentially many others.
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Their computer software “glitches” and creates “phantom” entries for dates and times, records show. As a result, property and evidence employees admitted to personally changing the dates and times without verifying the information is accurate.
The date for an evidentiary hearing about the problems has not been set.
The defense and prosecutors will meet again in court next week to set a schedule. A multi-day evidentiary hearing likely means detectives, evidence employees, and other officials will be forced to take the stand and testify about the problems.
In court, Judge Starr said she could declare a mistrial or dismiss the case, even with prejudice based on what happens.
Defense attorneys have accused police and prosecutors of withholding information about the problems, which go back years, records show. In court, the Maricopa County Attorney’s office has denied any intentional withholding of records and information about the problems.
At Wednesday’s hearing, at least a dozen Goodyear police employees, including an assistant chief, were present in the court gallery.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office also had several top officials in attendance.
The case against the Cunninghams began in 2017.
The couple is accused of child abuse causing the death of their 7-year-old daughter Sanaa Cunningham.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
