FAYETTEVILLE — A lawyer representing a man recalled to active duty in the Army so he could be tried for three deaths in North Carolina has filed an appeal in civilian federal court.

The Fayetteville Observer reported an attorney for Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis, 52, has asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule that the Army had no jurisdiction. Kathryn Eastburn of Fayetteville and her two daughters were killed in 1985.

Hennis was originally convicted in a civilian court in Fayetteville in 1986 and sentenced to death. He won an appeal and was acquitted at a trial in Wilmington in 1989.

The Army began its prosecution after a 2006 DNA test linked Hennis to semen collected from Kathryn Eastburn's body in 1985. Hennis was convicted at Fort Bragg in April and sentenced to die.