OLATHE, Kan. (AP) _ A Johnson County judge rules that fingerprint evidence will be allowed in a case against a man accused of kidnapping an 18-year-old from a parking lot, raping and strangling her.

Edwin Hall is charged with capital murder in last summer's death of Kelsey Smith of Overland Park.

Smith was last seen on video leaving a Target store on June 2, 2007, and her body was found four days later.

Defense attorney Paul Cramm had asked Johnson County Judge Peter Ruddick to throw out fingerprint evidence prosecutors say they have against Hall.

Cramm argued that investigators found at least 29 partial prints on Smith's car. Cramm had said the method used to link one of the prints to Hall is subjective and untested.

Hall's trial is set for Sept. 16.

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