The Hamilton Police Service is being sued for $6 million over a murder case that's more than 30 years old.

Gerald Burke, a part time cab driver, was shot to death in 1969. A year later, Gary Staples was convicted of the murder. He has since been acquitted.

Now, Staples and Burke's family have joined forces in accusing the police of suppressing evidence.

They say their charges against the Hamilton police are based on evidence uncovered by two law students from Osgoode Hall. Last fall, the students were reviewing the case's file, when, after seven long hours, they came across a memo written by a Hamilton police officer in 1972. The officer admitted information about two witnesses was never turned over to the defence because he believed it would have caused the jury to acquit Staples.

"It looked like a deliberate admission of a suppression of evidence, that's what it looked like to us. So we knew it was important," said Colleen Robertshaw, one of the students.

Staples' conviction was based on the evidence of an ex-girlfriend who claimed he had confessed to the killing.

She was a "jilted girlfriend," says Staples. "She wanted to get even."

Staples was eventually acquitted at his second trial, but he says he's spent the past 30 years trying to clear his name.

Hamilton's deputy police chief Bruce Elwood says the case will be reviewed to see if it needs to be reinvestigated.

That, and apology, are what Burke's family and Staples are asking for.

"Police back 32 years ago were under no obligation to disclose anything in their files which they didn't think was relevant to the trial," said Elwood.