An Allegheny County judge yesterday refused to send a man who had been charged with rape back to jail after his case was dismissed for lack of action, and again reprimanded the district attorney's office for letting him languish for more than a year behind bars without a trial.

Judge Randal B. Todd did add a requirement that David L. Bradford not leave the county. Mr. Bradford, who last month was released after a mistake was made in transmitting paperwork on his case, also is barred from contacting the woman he was accused of raping and still must report weekly to a bail agent, the judge said.

Judge Todd last month dismissed charges including rape, kidnapping for ransom, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse because prosecutors violated Mr. Bradford's right to a speedy trial. He was held in Allegheny County Jail for more than a year with no action on his case, more than double the requirement for a trial within 180 days.

The state Superior Court on Tuesday ordered Judge Todd to reconsider Mr. Bradford's bail while the appeal on the dismissal of charges is considered. In response, Judge Todd imposed the travel restriction, rather than stricter conditions such as house arrest with electronic monitoring or cash bond.

Prosecutors had asked the appellate court to jail Mr. Bradford, 30, of Wilkinsburg, again on $100,000 bond.

"This is a major mistake that should have been handled by your office," Judge Todd told Deputy District Attorneys Janet Necessary and Rebecca Spangler. "With all due respect, there's nothing I am going to change here."

Ms. Necessary asked the judge to consider Mr. Bradford's "danger to the public" and prior record, which includes convictions for threatening a woman with a knife in 1994, forcing a woman into her home at gunpoint and two attempts to kidnap women at gunpoint in 1998.

Mr. Bradford was mostly silent during the hearing, and declined to comment to reporters afterward. His attorney, Matthew Debbis, said he was "extremely pleased" with the judge's decision. The mistake was not Mr. Bradford's fault and "he is entitled to be where he is," Mr. Debbis said.

He said Mr. Bradford is not a threat to society and has not had contact with the victim.

"He does not even know where she is," he said.

The prosecution has said it traced the problem to a paperwork glitch at the office of a district judge in Wilkinsburg, which prevented the case from showing up in a trial court docket.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, declined to comment after the hearing.

"To term this a technicality is very disheartening," Mr. Debbis said. He said Pennsylvania Act 600, which says a defendant cannot remain in custody for more than 180 days, or be free on bond for more than 365, without a trial, "is as fundamental a right as your right to speech."

As a safeguard, Mr. Debbis filed an emergency appeal yesterday asking the state Supreme Court to stay the Superior Court's decision that Judge Todd reconsider bail and keep his client free.

If the district attorney loses the appeal on the dismissal of charges, Mr. Bradford could not be charged again in this case.

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