Judge allows pizza shop murder trial to continue after video recovery
A Chula Vista court approved the trial of four men accused of killing a man in 2004, despite police errors and the recent retrieval of degraded footage.
By Jessica Abebe ·
A judge in San Diego County ordered the trial of four men accused of a 2004 pizzeria murder to proceed, resolving a dispute over missing surveillance footage. The ruling clears the path for a court date in February 2027 in the case of Ryan Cunningham, who was beaten and stabbed outside LaBella's Pizza at age 21.
The case sat cold for two decades before the arrests occurred earlier this year. Jose Roque-Garcia remains in custody while the other three defendants are out on bail. The legal conflict intensified when the district attorney’s office informed the victim’s family that Chula Vista police had lost key video evidence. This news prompted the defense teams to file motions seeking dismissal, citing police negligence in handling the scene's recordings twenty-two years prior.
The situation shifted on Wednesday when the deputy district attorney, Robert Eacret, confirmed that the lost footage was in the process of being recovered. Eacret described the recovered material as pixelated and of low quality, but identified it as video of the LaBella's interior lobby. He stated that the case could move forward despite the visual degradation.
Defense attorneys argued that the police failed to secure nine separate videos that lasted for hours. Patrick Griffen, representing Roque-Garcia, noted that these recordings were never captured or secured by law enforcement. The defense maintained that this mishandling of evidence compromised the integrity of the trial. The judge, however, determined that other forms of evidence were sufficient to justify continuing the prosecution.
The court pointed to an informant who identified the four men and DNA evidence as the primary pillars of the case. These elements, according to the judge, provide enough substance to proceed without relying solely on the compromised video files. The judge also issued an order requiring the suspects' faces to be blurred in media coverage.
Hannah Rangel, Cunningham’s sister, expressed mixed feelings after hearing the ruling. She told ABC 10News that the details of the investigation confirmed her long-held belief that the case had not been a priority for years. She described it as a hard pill to swallow that a list of evidence was mentioned but never obtained. Despite her frustration with the process, she said she was relieved that the cases were not dismissed.
Chula Vista police have not responded to five outreach attempts from the newsroom regarding the case and the specific videos in question. The trial is currently scheduled to begin in February 2027.
