(Cedar Rapids, IA) - The Iowa State Supreme Court this week is considering a motion to throw out DNA evidence in the Michelle Martinco murder case.
Lawyers for Jerry Burns made their case Friday. They say Police should have had a search warrant before testing Burns’ DNA on a drinking straw Burns used, at a restaurant and threw in the trash. Burns was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in a Cedar Rapids mall parking lot in 1979. She’d been stabbed 29 times. The DNA on the drinking straw matched DNA on the clothes the young woman was wearing that night, leading detectives to Burns. He is serving a life sentence with no parole.
The Iowa State Supreme Court is now considering the arguments.
Screenshot of Jerry Burns interrogation from KGAN TV.