BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms has denied a motion from state prosecutors for all three defendants in the Crystal Rogers case to be tried together. Steven Lawson will be tried individually. However, the judge ruled defendants Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson will be tried together. Steven Lawson is Joseph’s father.

Steven Lawson’s trial is set for Feb. 10, 2025. Houck and Joseph Lawson will appear in court on Dec. 5, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. to have a new trial date set for them.

Steven Lawson, one of three men arrested and charged in Crystal Rogers' death, appears in court on Feb. 8, 2024 (Spectrum News 1/Khyati Patel)

In his ruling, Simms said grand jury testimony from Steven Lawson that prosecutors want to use as evidence could create an undue prejudice against Houck and Joseph Lawson. “As a result, this Court has no choice but to sever S. Lawson’s trial from his codefendants,” he wrote. If they were tried all together, Simms argued, and convictions resulted, they could be reversed because of that evidence.

A judge has ruled Brooks Houck (left) and Joseph Lawson (right) will be tried together. Both are accused in Crystal Rogers' murder case (Oldham County Jail/Kentucky Online Offender Lookup)

Lawyers for Houck and Joseph Lawson had filed motions for separate trials for their clients. Houck’s attorneys argued two interviews from Joseph Lawson could create an unfair prejudice; Simms, however, ruled the contents of the interviews are “irrelevant at trial.”

Attorneys for Joseph Lawson said being tried with Houck would create an unfair prejudice against their client, citing the negative media attention surrounding Houck in Nelson County, statements from Houck that could be used in the trial, and “prejudicial spillover” from evidence admitted against Houck that couldn’t be used if his trial was separated. Simms said he believed both Houck and Joseph Lawson would receive an impartial trial in Warren County. Further, he said that Houck’s statements never implicated Joseph Lawson any of criminal wrongdoing, and that he failed to identify specifically the alleged spillover evidence. “…[T]his Court is unable to find any undue prejudice,” Sims wrote.

Houck is charged with the murder of Rogers, who was his girlfriend at the time of her disappearance. Steven Lawson and Joseph Lawson are charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit murder. Rogers disappeared in 2015 and is presumed dead.