GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- The lawyer for an elderly Palisade, Colo. man accused of threatening to rape a nurse said his client couldn't attend a court hearing Tuesday because he is dying.

Attorney Ryan Esplin said Ralph Allen Ridenour, 91, is "in the active stage of dying," and that he might die if he were to be moved to court or anywhere else.

Ridenour is accused of grabbing a nurse by the shirt, pulling her pants down and threatening to rape her as she tried to leave his room at the Palisade Living Center in October. He faces charges of attempted sexual assault and false imprisonment, which are felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of third-degree sexual assault.

He's been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation, but prosecutors said that hasn't happened because of his condition.

Esplin said a doctor at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center has indicated Ridenour can't be moved because of a blood clot in his leg.

According to the Grand Junction Sentinel, Ridenour is a registered sex offender. He was arrested by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department on Feb. 2, 2006, on suspicion of two counts of felony sexual assault on a child.