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CHARLOTTE (AP) — Attorneys representing a retarded man held on a murder charge for 14 years without a trial want their client to be freed immediately.

The writ of habeas corpus for Floyd Brown, a 43-year-old Anson County man with an IQ of 50, was filed this week in Durham County Superior Court. It would be the first time the case is scrutinized by a judge outside of Anson County, which is located southeast of Charlotte on the South Carolina border.

Brown is accused of beating 80-year-old Katherine Lynch to death in 1993.

The court filing includes information challenging the case and offers new evidence suggesting that the description of the suspect didn't match Brown. Defense attorneys also argue that Lynch's actual time of death was several hours before police claim Brown killed her.

Brown was sent to Dorothea Dix, the state mental hospital, after the court found him incompetent to stand trial. Prosecutors, who could have dismissed the case because of Brown's incompetence, have refused to do so.

In addition to Brown's incompetence, there are problems with evidence in the case. Almost all the physical evidence is missing, and experts have testified Brown is not capable of giving the detailed confession investigators said he did. In addition, the detectives who investigated Lynch's murder later pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges arising from unrelated cases.

Defense attorneys past attempts to free Brown — including motions asking that the case be dismissed because of lost evidence and allegations that his confession was fabricated — have failed.

In the documents filed Tuesday, defense attorneys Mike Klinkosum and Kelley DeAngelus said Anson County District Attorney Michael Parker has violated Brown's right to due process.

"Perhaps the greatest injustice in this case is that the Office of the District Attorney has defiantly refused to acknowledge the lack of evidence against Floyd Brown and has refused to exhibit the courage to do justice in this case by dismissing ... the charges," the attorneys wrote.

Parker did not immediately return a message left Thursday by The Associated Press. He has said previously that Brown was "too dangerous" to release.