Dilute-nitride Ga0.44In0.56NyP1-y alloys with y=0-0.02, grown on a GaAs substrate using gas-source molecular beam epitaxy, are studied by the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique. Grown-in paramagnetic defects were found to act as centers of nonradiative recombination. Resolved hyperfine structure for one of the detected ODMR signals suggests involvement of a Ga-interstitial or an As-antisite in the structure of the related defect. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.