HAMILTON — A judge Monday dismissed an attempted murder charge, saying a six-year time limit for prosecuting the 1993 case had expired by the time Dustin Hendrix was indicted on the charge in September 2000.

        But Judge Patricia Oney of Butler County Common Pleas Court still must decide whether Mr. Hendrix, of Hamilton — serving a 16-years-to-life sentence in a 1999 homicide — will stand trial on a rape charge linked to the 1993 attempted murder allegation.

        She gave no indication when she might make a ruling on the rape charge.

        At issue is whether Mr. Hendrix's due-process rights would be violated because of the age of the case — and whether authorities failed to take timely action on information they had around the time of the alleged crimes.

        Defense attorney Lyn Cunningham argued that Hamilton police neglected to follow up on leads provided by the woman who reported the 1993 attack, so the case should be thrown out. He thinks a six-year time limit is another reason to dismiss the charge.

        But Assistant Prosecutor Lee Oldendick said officers couldn't get the complaining witness to cooperate until she recontacted police in 1999. Mr. Oldendick also pointed out that state law recently changed, expanding the time limit for prosecuting rape cases from six years to 20 years. He thinks the 20-year limit should apply to Mr. Hendrix's case.

        The woman testified Monday that she recalled giving police Mr. Hendrix's name as a possible suspect in 1993. However, she said she had been using drugs and was on anti-depressants during that time. Mr. Oldendick argued that the woman's memory could be cloudy because of the drugs.

        James Nugent, a retired Hamilton detective who handled the 1993 case, says his investigation was impeded because the woman refused in 1993 to view mug shots at the police station, and to get into his cruiser and point out the home where the attack occurred.

        The woman testified in court Monday that she saw Mr. Hendrix's face appear on a TV news broadcast in 1999, so she called police to identify him as the man who raped and tried to kill her in 1993.

        Mr. Hendrix was convicted last year in the 1999 slaying of Patricia Ann Barrett, 27, and dumping her body in a farm shed outside Oxford.

        Mr. Cunningham questioned the timing of the indictment in the 1993 case, saying it “magically appeared” during a hotly contested prosecutor's race. Then-Prosecutor Dan Gattermeyer was defeated by Robin Piper in the November election.

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