Attorneys for Jason Carter are seeking to have the results of the civil lawsuit filed against him set aside, and even the case dismissed, in light of his acquittal on first-degree murder charges last week.

Carter was found not guilty by a jury in Council Bluffs in the June 2015 death of his mother Shirley; he was charged shortly after being found liable for her death in a civil case brought by his father Bill Carter and others.

A request for dismissal of the case is already before the court, but his attorneys are now asking the court to take judicial notice not only of his acquittal, but of the fact that the case was still active even as the trial proceeded.

The defense says they continued to receive potential evidence from the state in their client’s favor even as the trial was ongoing and even after it rested. They also say investigators were carrying out questioning of at least one potential witness even as the jury deliberated.

Because of the unusual order of the cases, in which the civil trial took place before the criminal proceeding, the defense has maintained and continues to maintain it was denied evidence their client could have used in the civil matter. And they say since the two cases are intertwined, his criminal acquittal should be considered as a crucial factor in how to rule on the civil matter.