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FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) -- A man accused of murder wants DNA evidence thrown out because he says police threatened to forcibly take DNA from him if he refused to provide it more than two decades ago.
Edward Lewis Owens was arrested earlier this year in the 1980 murder of 25-year-old Karin Strom.
Owens, 56, of Kaysville provide the DNA sample during the original investigation and signed a consent form.
That sample matched DNA found underneath Strom's fingernails.
Defense attorney Michael Studebaker says police forced Owens to sign the waiver. Studebaker's motion contends that blood samples shouldn't be presented to a jury because police didn't have a warrant.
County Attorney Troy Rawlings says he doesn't think Owens' 26-year-old sample will be thrown out. If it is, he says he'll get a warrant for a new sample.
Information from: Standard-Examiner
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
