Five days after a jury in Warren County found him guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence, lawyers for Steven Lawson are asking for a new trial.
Lawson’s defense attorneys filed a “motion for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict” with the Nelson Circuit Court Wednesday. The motion states that Lawson should be granted a new trial or granted a judgement of acquittal after he was denied a fair trial.
The defense argues that the trial court did not give the jury proper instructions on how to deliberate on the Conspiracy to Commit Murder charge. The defense also raised concerns once again on the court’s denial of a motion to test two hairs found in Crystal Rogers’s vehicle in 2015, and again argued they did not have adequate time to prepare for trial given the large amount of discovery in the case.
The defense argues that Judge Charles Simms III’s order on “proper decorum” was violated because “a plethora of people in the gallery were wearing pink.” The defense says pink is emblematic of the “Team Crystal” movement that formed after Rogers’s disappearance, so wearing pink in the courtroom violates the order’s restriction on clothing expressing a message on the case.
Prior to jury selection for the trial, defense attorney Darren Wolff motioned for a continuance stating that the defense had not completed its review of discovery in the case. Wolff also indicated while scheduling the August 6 sentencing hearing that the defense would be appealing the jury’s verdict.
The defense’s filing notes that the motion “need not be heard and instead may be taken under submission unless the court deems otherwise.”
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