Great Bend ? The man accused of killing a teenager whose charred body was found at the Great Bend asphalt plant has challenged the constitutionality of the Kansas death penalty.

Attorneys for Adam Joseph Longoria of Great Bend filed a motion last week asking Barton County Judge Hannelore Kitts to declare the death penalty unconstitutional.

Longoria faces capital murder and criminal sodomy charges in the August killing of 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt.

Prosecutors said last year they would seek the death penalty.

Longoria’s attorneys argue that so-called relaxed evidentiary standards allow the government to produce any evidence of aggravating factors without regard to its accuracy.

The defense notes the death penalty has been upheld by the Kansas Supreme Court and acknowledges it is filing the request to preserve the issue for future appeals.