LISBON - Murder defendant Jack Amato Jr.'s attorney said investigators overstepped their bounds with a faulty search warrant when they seized evidence from his client's place of residence, resulting in another weapons charge against him.

James Hartford filed a motion in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to suppress the evidence, a move which has resulted in the cancellation of the Dec. 16 trial for the third-degree felony charge of having weapons under disability.

Amato, 36, claimed self-defense in the July 1, 2007, shooting death of his wife, Tonya, at their Wellsville residence, claiming she fired at him first when he shot her with a .45-caliber handgun he handed to authorities. He was indicted for murder and having a weapon under disability, with the indictment alleging he was a chronic alcoholic at the time of the shooting.

After his arrest, he was staying at the Irondale residence of his father, Dr. Jack Amato, as part of a bond requirement for his release from jail. During a search of the Wellsville residence, investigators found a .45-caliber bullet, but determined it wasn't fired from the gun Amato claimed he used. Another report found that the bullet contained the DNA of the victim.

As a result, Det. Sgt. Andy Sweeney of the county Sheriff's Office filed an affidavit requesting to search the Irondale residence, claiming he believed the murder weapon was inside. For the basis, he said Amato's father told him his son owned another .45-caliber gun which was kept at his residence. He also pointed to the bullet, claiming that an examination "...found Tonia Brundage Amato's DNA present, confirming that the bullet was the one that killed Tonia Brundage Amato."

During the search of the Irondale house, investigators found guns and explosive devices in Amato's bedroom and seized them, arresting Amato for the additional weapons charge for having weapons under disability. By law, a person under felony indictment isn't permitted to possess firearms. He remains in jail under the bond for the latest charge.

In his motion to dismiss the evidence, Hartford attacked the validity of the warrant on a couple of fronts. He first claimed the affidavit contained false information, referring to the conclusion that the bullet containing the victim's DNA was the bullet which killed her.

"Such a conclusion requires a quantum leap of faith," Hartford wrote.

He attached an affidavit from Carey Martin Baucher, the forensic scientist who prepared the DNA report, saying the report did not confirm that "a certain bullet was the one that killed Tonia Brundage Amato." He also pointed to a report by Dale Laux, a forensic scientist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, which stated no blood stains were identified on the ballistic projectile submitted.

Hartford also claimed the affidavit contained old information, noting that Amato's father told Sweeney in September 2007 that his son kept a .45-caliber handgun at the Irondale residence. He accused the government of seeking a "fishing license," not a warrant to search and seize.

He claimed the information in the ballistics report was intentionally withheld and would have limited the search warrant, but according to the search warrant itself, the warrant was already limited to "all .45-caliber firearms, casings, and bullets, being evidence relating to the homicide of Tonia Brundage Amato."

Hartford also attacked how the investigators used the search warrant, claiming they didn't have the authority to seize the weapons they seized because the warrant sought only to seize .45-caliber firearms, casings and bullets relating to the homicide.

He admitted that the law allows for other evidence to be seized if it's in plain sight and its incriminating nature is obvious, but he claimed in this case, "the incriminating nature of the property was not immediately apparent."

Hartford asked the court to rule on his motion or set a hearing to argue the motion.

Judge C. Ashley Pike said he'll be asking for a visiting judge to hear the case since it would be a conflict for him. He was the judge who granted the search warrant.

Pike will hear a telephone conference in the murder case at 3:25 p.m. Monday. A status hearing in the case remains set for Feb. 9, with the jury trial scheduled to begin Feb. 17.