DURHAM -- A judge in Durham County has dismissed murder and robbery charges against a mentally retarded defendant who's been in custody for 14 years.

Judge Orlando F. Hudson Jr. ordered the release of Floyd Brown, 43, from a state mental hospital, where he's been in custody since 1993 without a trial.

Brown was charged in the death and robbery of 80-year-old Katherine Lynch, who was found beaten to death in 1993. He was found at the time to be incompetent to stand trial, and has remained in state custody at Dorothea Dix Hospital ever since as prosecutors refused to drop the case against him.

Brown signed a typed confession, but forensic psychologist Moira Artiques testified that the language in that confession doesn't resemble anything he has said before.

Artiques last examined Brown on Friday and said his IQ is 50, which she says is mild mental retardation.

Dr. Mark Hazelrig is a forensic psychologist at Dorothea Dix Hospital, and he testified that the flowing narrative language used in the confession wasn't normal for Brown.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.