The Kansas Supreme Court says a man serving about 54 years in prison after being convicted in a 1999 rape and robbery case in Lawrence may be entitled to a few more days in court.

The high court Friday ordered the Kansas Court of Appeals to reconsider if a case can be made that Terry D. McIntyre had ineffective counsel in an appeal.

The Lawrence Journal reports  that he was tried and convicted in Douglas County District Court on multiple charges of robbery, rape, criminal sodomy, aggravated battery and kidnapping and sentenced to 53 years and nine months.

But the Supreme Court said the Court of Appeals must decide if a late appeal claiming ineffective counsel in his previous appeals could be justified.