BATON ROUGE - After the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed a Baton Rouge judge's decision to free a rapist behind bars for 50 years, his attorney is saying he believes other issues haven't been addressed. 

Donald Ray Link was 50 years into his life sentence for a 1972 rape conviction. Last week, he asked Judge Gail Horne Ray for parole eligibility, but she decided to overturn his conviction instead. Thursday, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed that ruling. Link’s attorney, Ryan Thompson, said he believes other issues have not been addressed. 

"Obviously we disagree with the ruling, but we respect the rule of law here, we believe there was an illegal sentence at the time he was convicted. We also believe there were some other issues that we believe should've been heard in the interest of justice," Thompson said.

Link had asked Judge Ray to shorten his sentence so he could seek parole. Instead, Ray nullified Link's conviction and said she intended to set him free. Link was never released. The District Attorney's office asked for Ray's ruling to be put on hold until an appeal was decided.

"There were some legal issues that needed to be put before the court, the District Court Judge Ray made her decision and the Supreme Court disagreed with her decision," the District Attorney's Office said.

The Supreme Court said Link has exhausted all his claims and that its denial is final. He would have to find a narrow exception to laws barring successive appeals to bring another claim, the court said.

Thompson said the outcome is disappointing for his client.

"Though we may not agree with it, that's the way things work in America," Thompson said.

Prosecutors had said Ray's decision to free Link was without precedent. Her handling of other rape cases has also been called into question. The judge's son, Nelson Dan Taylor Jr., pleaded guilty at age 17 after admitting to a series of rapes. Thompson says he believes that had nothing to do with her ruling.

"I think the issue with her son has no bearing on the issue at hand here," Thompson said.

"Ray didn't choose to examine Link's case. It was assigned to her in the normal course of court business. “They only take on the issues that are filed with the court, and she took up the issue,” Thompson says.