Tracy police officials say that a key detective involved with the case of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose killer was sentenced to life in prison, has been put on paid leave.
Sgt. Tony Sheneman confirmed that Det. Nate Cogburn has been on leave for the past few weeks but was prohibited from giving details on Thursday.
In grand jury transcripts released last week, Cogburn stated that he may have violated Melissa Huckaby's Miranda rights just minutes after he told her she was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Sandra Cantu.
Cogburn told prosecutors that he deleted an audio recording of their exchange. He says police do not have a firm policy about booking audio recordings into evidence.
Sheneman says the usual practice for such an investigation as Huckaby's is to book all such recordings into evidence.
Prosecutors say the development won't have any bearing on Huckaby's conviction or sentence.
