Hunter
12/20/19
Attorneys for the man accused in the 40-year-old case of Michelle Martinko want DNA evidence gathered from a straw he was using thrown out as evidence.
65-year-old Jerry Burns was arrested December 19th 2018 and charged with the Cedar Rapids teenager’s murder. She was found dead in her parents’ car in the Westdale Mall parking lot, where she went to buy a new coat in December of 1979.
The Des Moines Register reports that blood at the scene was used to create DNA profiles, and narrowed the profile down to a pool of suspects, which included Burns. An investigator got a straw that Burns had been using in October 2018 and the DNA matched.
Burns attorney Leon Spies says the straw seizure was done without a warrant and is a violation of his client’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. He also wants evidence from Burns’ cell phone and work computer to be suppressed, saying investigators lacked probable cause.
Spies also contends that statements Burns made while he was interviewed at his business and while on his way to the Cedar Rapids Police department are inadmissible because he didn’t have an attorney present.
The trial has been moved to Scott County due to pre-trial publicity and is set to begin February 10th.