Judge Jay Winward dismissed the rape case against former BYU wide receiver Parker Kingston without prejudice on Wednesday after denying prosecutors' request for a two-month continuance. The ruling ended the case for now, but it did not close the door on it forever.

Kingston is 22 and had been charged in February with first-degree felony rape. He denied the allegations throughout the case, and Wednesday’s hearing changed his legal status in a single ruling, moving the matter from a scheduled trial toward dismissal.

Prosecutors had asked to push the trial to September, with the option to move it into October if needed, saying the alleged victim was not ready to go to trial. Judge Jay Winward was not persuaded. He also turned down a request for a status hearing next week and said, “The state is not ready. The victim is unprepared to testify, and that's ok.” He then said, “The case is dismissed without prejudice.”

The defense argued that waiting any longer had already disrupted Kingston’s life. That objection gave the hearing its sharpest edge: prosecutors wanted more time because their witness was not prepared, while defense lawyers said the delay itself had become its own punishment. The judge sided with neither timeline and instead cut the case off for now.

Without prejudice means the dismissal was not described as final, and that is the part that matters most next. The case is over in the courtroom at this moment, but prosecutors still have the option to try again later. Judge Jay Winward also noted that prosecutors had already received continuances before Wednesday, which made the latest request harder to justify.

For Kingston, the immediate result is clear: the trial that had been looming is gone, at least for now. What remains unresolved is whether the state will bring the case back or let the dismissal stand as the end of a case that has already stretched from February into another season of delay.