WWW arkcity.net

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

A hearing on evidence in the Justin Thurber case will take place at 10 a.m. Friday at the Cowley County Courthouse in Winfield.

Thurber has been charged with capital murder, kidnapping, rape and sodomy in the death of 19-year-old Jodi Sanderholm, of Arkansas City.

Judge Jim Pringle is expected to consider a motion by the state to consume DNA evidence in the case, County Attorney Chris Smith said Wednesday.

A status hearing on the case was held Feb. 27 at the county courthouse. A preliminary hearing for Thurber was set for May 30 at the courthouse.

In a press conference outside the courthouse after the status conference, Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison said that there was a "lot of lab work still being done" and evidence that still needed to be tested.

The amount of genetic material from Sanderholm's rape kit is so small, there would be very little left for the defense to use in its testing.

The judge will consider the matter of how the sample is to be split between the prosecution and the state, Smith said. The state has asked that it be able to consume the entire sample because it's such a small amount.

"The defense says they should be allowed part of it," Smith said. "But the judge will allow some safeguard."