The defense attorney for a 54-year-old New York man charged with committing the rape for which a Manhattan, Kan., man spent 10 years in prison has filed a motion to dismiss the charges.

According to Gavin Young, communications director for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, the motion is based on the expiration of the statute of limitations for rape.

A February Journal-World article highlighted the story of former Fort Riley soldier Eddie Lowery, who was convicted in the April 1981 rape of an elderly Ogden woman. DNA evidence exonerated Lowery in 2003 of the rape, and he reached a $7.5 million settlement with Riley County officials earlier this year.

Shortly following the settlement, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, which is handling the case, announced that authorities had arrested Daniel Lee Brewer in New York for the crime. He was extradited back to Riley County, where he has also been re-charged with another 1981 Ogden rape. Brewer had been tried for that rape in 1981, but it resulted in a hung jury and the charges were dropped.

The statute of limitations on rape cases in Kansas is five years, but a 2001 law extends that to one year after DNA testing has identified a suspect. However, the Attorney General’s Office would not comment on how it identified Brewer as a suspect.

The hearing on the motion to dismiss is set for Aug. 23, and the preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17, Young said.

Brewer remains in the Riley County Jail; his bond is set at $500,000.

The public defender representing Brewer could not be reached for comment.