Topeka, Kans. (KSN) -- The Kansas Supreme Court has thrown out rape charges against the man accused in a serial rape case. Douglas Belt—currently on death row for a Wichita murder—is accused of raping seven western Kansas women in the late 80's and 90's.

But it’s how authorities in Reno, McPherson and Saline counties charged Belt that caused the case to go to the Kansas Supreme Court. Originally, investigators had only the DNA left behind by the rapist. Unable to identify who it belonged to, and with the statute of limitations running out, prosecutors filed charges against the DNA itself; essentially issuing a “John Doe” warrant.  Then, in 2003 when Belt was charged and convicted for the murder of a Wichita woman, Belt was discovered to be the owner of the DNA in the rape cases.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court threw out the rape cases saying the warrants were "invalid" because they contained "insufficient identifying information."

"The KBI issued a warrant that simply described two locations of chromosomes common to every human being,” said defense attorney Dan Monnat, who is not representing Belt. “The warrant no more described a particular person than a warrant described a person with two eyes a nose and a mouth."

Still, it was a victory in the big picture for prosecutors. Even though the Belt warrants were deemed too vague to prosecute,  the court still upheld the method itself provided the warrants specify DNA that can be clearly linked to one person.

McPherson County prosecutor Ty Kaufman tells KSN while he’s pleased with the overall endorsement of the method, he “feels sorry” for the families that won’t see the prosecution of the man alleged to have raped them.