The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the Geary County District Court judgment that denied Stanton Holt's motion for post conviction DNA testing pursuant to K.S.A. 21-2512, according to a media release from the State.
Holt was convicted of more than 60 offenses including two counts of first-degree murder following a string of 1993 burglaries.
In 2020, Holt motioned for additional testing of blood-stained exhibits. He alleged that new DNA testing techniques could show that the biological material on the exhibits was solely his DNA.
However, the district court denied Holt's motion following an evidentiary hearing because the exhibits had been stored in such a manner that would materially undermine the scientific accuracy of any testing, specifically due to concerns with the chain of evidence, handling of, and the physical condition of the exhibits.
In a decision written by Justice Caleb Stegall, a unanimous Court held that additional testing of corrupted exhibits would be inconclusive and any results from additional testing could not be exculpatory, as required by K.S.A. 21-2512(c).