The attorney for a 37-year-old Lawrence resident who pleaded no contest in May to attempted rape and aggravated criminal sodomy told Douglas County District Judge Sally Pokorny that he plans to ask the court to withdraw his client’s plea.

Orion M. Graf

Orion Mark Graf, a former Kansas University graduate teaching assistant, was originally charged in June 2014 with two counts of rape while the victim was incapable of giving consent, one count of aggravated assault and one count of felony criminal threat. He was previously set to stand trial for those charges in May, before taking a plea agreement to the reduced charges.

Graf pleaded no contest last year to two counts of breach of privacy after secretly videotaping people in dressing rooms in downtown Lawrence in 2012 and 2013 in a separate case. In that case, investigators found a small battery-operated camera linked to Graf in the changing room at the Gap, 643 Massachusetts St., and later found 17,000 video clips on his computers featuring “hidden camera videos in locations where people were naked.”

While investigating that case, investigators found evidence that led to the attempted rape case. Lawrence police detective James Schneider said at a preliminary hearing in July that he discovered photographs that appeared to show a female victim unconscious while “sexual acts” were being performed, according to court documents. The victim was 18 years old when the crimes were alleged to have occurred.

Graf’s attorney, Michael Clarke, said Wednesday that he intends to prepare a motion to withdraw his client’s plea. Clarke said he would like to have his client undergo a mental evaluation to determine if Graf was competent to enter his plea in May.

Graf entered his plea while another attorney, Branden Smith, was representing him.

Graf will return to court Sept. 17 for arguments on whether the court should allow him to withdraw his plea. He remains in the Douglas County Jail.