SALT LAKE CITY — A man convicted in the rape of a University of Utah student more than 15 years ago is taking his case to Utah Supreme Court Tuesday.

Donald Younge Jr. wants the court to throw out his conviction because he feels he was not given a speedy trial. The appeal is based on when charges were actually filed against him.

Younge was convicted of a brutal sexual assault that happened on Nov. 7, 1996. It involved a 23-year-old University of Utah student as she was walking home from campus.

Prosecutors filed charges in 2000 against a "John Doe" based on DNA evidence recovered from the scene to make sure the prosecution in the case began within the four-year statute of limitations. In 2002, the FBI made a DNA match to Younge, who was being held in an Illinois jail on suspicion of killing three prostitutes.

Related:

Man convicted of raping college student

A man once accused of killing three Illinois prostitutes has been convicted of beating, raping and robbing a University of Utah student 13 years ago.

Utah prosecutors filed amended charges in Utah with Younge's name but then had to wait seven years for the murder case in Illinois to play out. Those charges were dismissed.

After that, Younge was extradited to Utah. Then in 2009 he was convicted of two first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual assault and one second-degree felony count of robbery. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

In his appeal, Younge claims the four-year statute of limitations ran out while he was in Illinois and prosecutors violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

Utah's Assistant Attorney General Jeff Gray will argue that Younge was charged within the proper time frame and the statute of limitations did not run out because he left the state after the crimes were committed.

Gray will also argue that Younge's own actions caused the delays for his trial.

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