CINCINNATI — Prosecutors have dropped murder charges in the new trial of a man who spent more than a decade in a prison, according to court documents.
Charges were dropped against Marcus Sapp, 37, who was accused of shooting and killing Andrew Cunningham in 2008. Sapp was originally convicted by a jury in 2010 of Cunningham's murder, but that conviction was thrown out by Hamilton County Judge Jody Luebbers in January 2023. That judge then ordered a new trial.
Sapp's lawyers said Cincinnati police made an "egregious error" during the initial trial, including never disclosing information to the defense team and "presenting witnesses who flat-out lied," according to court documents.
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.
In court documents filed Wednesday, the prosecution said they were filing for dismissal of the case for multiple reasons.
"An essential state's witness says he would be subjected to extreme emotional distress and mental anguish, making him virtually unavailable to testify," the prosecution wrote. "Without this witness, the state is unable to proceed."
The prosecution also said a different witness, Quincy Jones, is now unavailable because he was a murder victim prior to the Sapp trial.
Other reasons the state included were that both lead detectives on Sapp's case were retired, and due to the length of time, memories of specific events had faded or been lost.
Sapp has been free since Jan. 27, 2023. According to the Ohio Innocence Project, he's frequently spoken about his experience to hundreds of high schools, colleges and law school students.
