BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Brooks Houck, one of the three men charged in connection to the 2015 murder of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, wants to be tried separately from the two other suspects in the case. Attorneys for Houck pled their case to a Nelson County Judge.
Houck is charged with the murder of Rogers, who was his girlfriend at the time of her disappearance. Father and son duo Steven Lawson and Joseph Lawson are charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit murder.
Houck’s attorney Brian Butler argues Steven Lawson’s inconsistent recollection of the night Rogers disappeared in 2015 hurts Houck’s case.
“Our defense is Mr. Houck did not commit this crime, and Steve Lawson is a liar,” Butler stated.
During Monday’s hearing, Butler played several clips of conversations Steve Lawson had with investigators in 2023. Throughout, the video shows Lawson changing his story around a phone call he had with Houck the night Rogers disappeared.
“None of this stuff should come into a trial of Brooks Houck, none of it,” Butler said. “None of this stuff comes in if he is by himself.”
Butler also argues Houck’s name cannot be redacted from past testimony, as the cases against the three men are so closely related.
“We’ve not narrowed the identity some, we’ve narrowed it down to the only person in the world that he’s trying to incriminate, and it’s this man,” explained Butler.
Prosecutor Teresa Young called the defense’s arguments “clear as mud” and believes trying the three cases together is the appropriate course of action.
“All of the co-defendants are charged out of the same set of facts and the same set of circumstances, the murder of Crystal Rogers,” Young said. “It’s not enough for a defendant just to show some prejudice in order to sever the cases. They have to show it’s unduly prejudicial to join them together.”
Nelson County Judge Charles Simms did not decide on Houck’s request to be tried separately.
Joseph Lawson and his legal counsel will appear in Simms’ courtroom on July 18 to discuss splitting his case away from the two others as well.
Judge Simms is expected to decide after that hearing is complete.
A trial date has been set for Feb. 2025.