CINCINNATI — There will be a new trial after a Hamilton County judge threw out the murder conviction of an inmate who has been in prison for more than 12 years.
In 2010, a jury convicted Marcus Sapp of shooting and killing Andrew Cunningham, but new filings from Sapp's lawyers claim Cincinnati police made an "egregious error." Some of the statements in new court documents include, "never disclosed to the defense team" and "presenting witnesses who flat-out lied."
"It just shocked me that an identification of a different person, close in time to the incident, was ignored by the police and overlooked," said Marty Pinales, Sapp's lawyer.
Court documents indicate audio recordings and investigative notes from Cincinnati police show the surviving victim of the crime and a confidential informant identified another suspect for the murder, but that person was never tried for the January 2008 murder of Andrew Cunningham. It was information the jury never heard, and it was not disclosed to Sapp's lawyers.
Judge Jody Luebbers threw out Sapp's conviction and is ordering a new trial.
In a statement after the ruling, interim Hamilton County Prosecutor, Mark Piepmeier said, "We were not provided the evidence in question. If we had the evidence, we would have turned it over to the defense. We understand Judge Luebbers' decision and will not be appealing. However, we will work to resolve this case or re-try Mr. Sapp, if necessary."
This is the second time in nearly one month a Hamilton County judge reversed a murder conviction. Elwood Jones got out of prison Saturday and is waiting for a new trial. A judge found the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office withheld evidence in his murder trial. Pinales said they are partnering with the Ohio Innocence Projectwith the Sapp case.
"The police and the prosecutor's office should play fair and it's not a game it's not playing it's somebody's life," said Pinales.
Sapp will be back in court on Jan. 27 for a bond hearing where Luebbers will decide the bond amount, which could get Sapp out of prison just like Jones.
If there's a new trial against Sapp, his lawyers said they will request a DNA evidence test, which they say authorities never did on him.
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