LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Brooks Houck is asking that Judge Charles Simms III be disqualified from his murder case due to what he calls a bias against him.

In court documents filed Tuesday, Houck's attorneys said Simms' "impartiality might reasonably be questioned from the perspective of a reasonable observer who is informed of all the surrounding facts and circumstances."

Houck was identified as the primary suspect in the Rogers case days after she went missing July 2015. He now faces charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence after being indicted by a Nelson County grand jury Sept. 20.

Simms set his bond at $10 million.

"The sensationalism surrounding this case was fueled, in large part, due to local law enforcement's remarkable decision to release portions of their open investigation, including Mr. Houck's police interview, to the public during an ongoing investigation after naming Mr. Houck as a main suspect," Tuesday's court filing says.

Houck's attorneys also bring up Crystal Maupin, Houck's current and longtime girlfriend. In 2017, Maupin was fighting for custody of a child she had before meeting Houck. The attorney cited a Family Court order from Simms, in which he said, in part, that "... this court is simply astonished that (Crystal Maupin) would want a relationship with (Brooks Houck) who is the prime suspect in the disappearance and presumed death of his previous girlfriend."

Houck's attorneys said this statement, made six years before an arrest is made, proves the need for Simms' disqualification.

"Based on the contempt for Mr. Houck as expressed in this family court order written six years before Mr. Houck was even charged, it is clear that Judge Simms has prejudged Mr. Houck's guilt and is not and could not possibly be impartial."

Simms could not be reached for comment.

You can read Tuesday's full affidavit below:

Download PDF Brooks Houck Request For New Judge

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