MOORHEAD - A motion to reconsider throwing out a statement alleged to have been made by a man facing two murder charges in Clay County District Court has been denied by a judge.
Judge Galen Vaa's order upheld his previous ruling giving prosecutors the go-ahead to tell jurors what police say Tracy Zornes, 38, said just before police took a DNA sample from him in the wake of his arrest two weeks after the killings of John Cadotte and Megan Londo in Moorhead on Feb. 19, 2010.
Zornes allegedly told the police, "This isn't anything sexual," before they took a sample of his DNA without a search warrant.
Vaa ruled May 24 that police should have obtained a warrant to take Zornes' DNA and said the state couldn't use the DNA evidence at trial.
But the judge allowed the comment Zornes is said to have made, which prosecutors have called crucial to their case - an opinion the defense asked Vaa to reconsider on the grounds it was prompted by an illegal search.
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In a ruling Monday, Vaa said nothing has changed that would require him to revisit his earlier opinion.
Zornes is slated to stand trial next month on arson, theft and murder charges connected to the deaths of Londo and Cadotte.
Jury selection is set to start Oct. 17.
