An Illinois town and a group of officials and police officers have asked a federal judge to step aside from a former prosecutor's lawsuit alleging local police and prosecutors framed him for his wife's murder, saying the judge's daughter's new job with the Exoneration Project creates an appearance of bias.

The city of Quincy, Illinois; Adams County; the Quincy chief of police; four individual police officers; and the former county coroner all unanimously agreed that U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough should hand off the case, after learning her daughter had taken a job with the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School, according to a motion filed Monday.

According to the motion, two of the attorneys for plaintiff Curtis Lovelace, who was acquitted of the murder of his first wife in 2017, also work at the Exoneration Project and would likely work on cases with the judge's daughter.

"An objective person could easily be concerned about the bias which could result from the family relationship that exists here," the motion said.

In addition, Judge Myerscough also attended a dinner hosted by the Innocence Project where Lovelace was honored, according to the motion, with the defendants arguing this increased the appearance of partiality.

"It can be said that because of this court's support and participation of such event, specifically when the plaintiff is an honored exoneree and her daughter works for the Exoneration Project, an objective person could reasonably question her impartiality," the motion said.

Counsel for Lovelace declined to comment on the motion for recusal, but said instead, "Curt continues to look forward to his day in court. Lovelace did oppose recusal when it was first raised by the defendants earlier this month, but has not yet submitted a response laying out his arguments.

Counsel for the defendants did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Lovelace filed suit against Quincy, Adams County and the officials in 2017, a few months after the jury in his second murder trial voted that he was not guilty. The first trial, which took place in 2016, resulted in a hung jury.

Lovelace said in his complaint that his wife Cory was suffering from significant health problems, including alcoholism, when he found her dead on the morning of Feb. 14, 2006. At the time of her death, Lovelace says, he was dropping their sons off at school.

After an initial investigation by the Quincy Police Department and the Adams County coroner, the case appeared to be closed, with the coroner noting that Cory Lovelace's health problems may have led to her premature death, according to the complaint.

But police reopened the case in 2013 for reasons that weren't clear in the complaint and, in 2014, Lovelace was arrested and charged with murder. Lovelace says that on the same day that he was arrested, his children were taken out of school without his knowledge or the knowledge of their adoptive mother and his second wife.

From school, the kids were taken to the police station for questioning without the presence of a lawyer in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain incriminating evidence against their father, the complaint alleges. All three Lovelace sons are also named plaintiffs in the suit.

Lovelace alleges that before his second trial, he uncovered information that the police department had been withholding evidence from both his attorneys and the prosecution that was crucial to his defense, including an email from a forensic pathologist who told detectives that there was not enough evidence to charge Lovelace with murder.

The defendants have denied all of the claims.

Lovelace also filed a suit challenging the court's order that he forfeit part of the bail money he paid while awaiting trial, even though he was acquitted. The court fee was upheld on appeal and both the Illinois Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. 

The Lovelaces are represented by Jon Loevy and Tara Thompson of Loevy & Loevy.

The city of Quincy, its chief of police and the police officers are represented by Thomas G. DiCianni, Ellen K. Emery and Justin DeLuca of Ancel Glink PC.

Adams County and its former coroner are represented by James A. Hansen and Daniel M. McCleery of Schmiedeskamp Robertson Neu & Mitchell LLP.

The case is Lovelace et al. v. Gibson et al., case number 1:17-cv-01201, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

--Additional reporting by Jessica Corso. Editing by Abbie Sarfo.