Major child murder trial at risk because Goodyear PD failed to track evidence

GOODYEAR, AZ — A Maricopa County Superior Court judge is weighing whether to throw out a high-profile child murder case in the middle of an extensive and costly trial because of major problems with the Goodyear Police Department’s tracking of evidence.

Judge Patricia Starr paused the trial after six months.

In an emergency hearing, she said she will make a decision on Wednesday whether to dismiss the case against Gerymane and Lisa Cunningham or declare a mistrial.

The sudden break in the 2017 case is happening because of widespread issues with how Goodyear police tracks its evidence.

In a motion to dismiss, defense attorneys attached a series of internal police documents that show detectives and other employees admit there are major issues with their evidence tracking software, which impacts the chain of custody in this case and potentially many others.

Their computer software “glitches” and creates “phantom” entries for dates and times. As a result, property and evidence employees admitted to personally changing the dates and times without verifying that the information is accurate.

RELATED: Investigation opened into Goodyear police’s evidence handling

As a result, defense attorneys argued in court on Monday that none of Goodyear’s evidence can be trusted.

The defense also accused police and prosecutors of withholding information about the problems, which go back years, records show.

During the hearing, the Maricopa County Attorney’s office denied any intentional withholding of records and information about the problems.

A prosecutor argued that the trial could continue despite the need to recall multiple witnesses and potentially throw out dozens of pieces of evidence already presented to the jury.

Germayne Cunningham is a former Phoenix police officer.

He and his wife are accused of neglecting their 7-year-old daughter, Sanaa, leading to her death.

The prosecution initially sought the death penalty against the Cunninghams.

Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at [email protected].