CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – An attorney for the state of Iowa is asking the Iowa Appeals court to reject Jerry Burns’ post-conviction relief.
Jerry Burns, who is serving life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in December of 1979, applied for post-conviction relief earlier this month. He alleged his legal team was ineffective at defending him in court and argued new evidence claiming his cellmate falsely testified against him.
The state is asking the courts to dismiss because these were not the claims he brought up when he tried to appeal his conviction. The Supreme Court denied the appeal, where he claimed that his constitutional rights were violated by investigators taking a straw he had discarded to connect his DNA to a sample found at the crime scene…