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Man charged in cold-case killing seeks to exclude evidence

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December 20th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man charged in the killing of an 18-year-old high school student 40 years ago is seeking to exclude from his trial DNA evidence used to arrest him. The Des Moines Register reports that an attorney for 65-year-old Jerry Burns filed a motion this week to exclude DNA evidence police lifted from a straw Burns had discarded last year. Attorney Leon Spies says in his motion that police didn’t have a warrant to seize the tossed-out straw. Police arrested Burns last December for the stabbing death of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko.