PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has notified defense attorneys in multiple cases that another Phoenix homicide detective may have mishandled evidence and failed to document interviews.
Prosecutors sent the new disclosure about detective Shannon McGee this week and revealed she’s under an internal misconduct investigation.
“Over the past month or so, Homicide Sergeant Wayne Ganz conducted an audit of Detective McGee’s case management and discovered several issues of concern,” according to a copy of the notification reviewed by ABC15. “Preliminarily, it appears there were interviews that were never documented in a report and potentially evidence was not impounded.”
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McGee, who’s investigated homicides since 2015, has been transferred out of the unit while the investigation continues.
The disclosure about McGee is similar to one made about another Phoenix homicide detective earlier this year.
Detective Jennifer DiPonzio failed to impound and document more than 50 audio interviews in addition to mishandling other evidence, records show.
An ongoing ABC15 investigation has revealed police officials kept information about those evidentiary problems in-house and secret from the court for more than a year.
DiPonzio, who’s married to an assistant chief, went on medical leave in 2021 and officially retired earlier this year under a disability claim.
So far, DiPonzio’s mistakes are a factor in 37 court cases and 61 investigations.
It’s not yet clear how many cases may be impacted by what’s happening with McGee.
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During a regularly scheduled press briefing, ABC15 asked Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell whether her office has larger concerns about how Phoenix is handling homicide evidence.
“I don’t have any information to say there is a widespread problem,” she said. “Obviously, this is a second one recently that we’ve gotten information on. And just for the record, when we were advised of that information, we disseminated that immediately.”
Mitchell added, “Certainly, that’s concerning because you have to rely on the evidence that you’re walking into court. I’m going to follow it and see what Phoenix turns up with this.”
Phoenix Police Department provided the following statement:
Information was brought to the attention of police department management through a routine supervisory review of Det. McGee’s work. Detailed information regarding internal investigations is available only when the investigation is complete, to include any appeals. Det. McGee is currently in an administrative assignment in the Property Crimes Bureau.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
