OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals says state attorneys unfairly lobbed allegations during a hearing to remove a couple’s five children from their custody.

The ruling Tuesday came in the case of a couple whose lost custody last year after a state Child Protective Services investigator found three of them — ages 12, 9 and 18 months — alone in a central Nebraska hotel room.

Based on that and concerns that the couple were abusing prescription drugs and alcohol, officials sought to remove the children. But at the hearing, the state presented additional evidence, including claims that the children had lice and that their parents had sought to buy drugs.

The appeals court agreed with the father that the state’s last-minute allegations left him unable to provide a defense.