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

GOODYEAR — 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 Germayne 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.

Read the full story from ABC15 Arizona here.

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