Nelson Circuit Court hears arguments on motion to combine Crystal Rogers investigation cases

Attorneys for Brooks Houck maintain that trying him in a joint trial with Steven Lawson and Joseph Lawson would be in violation of Houck’s due process.

Special Prosecutor Shane Young’s motion to join the trials of the three suspects charged in the Crystal Rogers investigation was argued during a hearing in Nelson Circuit Court Monday morning.

Houck’s defense attorney Brian Butler said the argument of the defense is that Houck did not commit the crime he has been charged with and that Steven Lawson has lied in his interviews with police and his grand jury testimony, and trying the three together would remove Houck’s ability to cross-examine Lawson and refute his statements. Butler also said it wouldn’t be possible to redact Lawson’s testimony to remove Houck’s name without implicating Houck, and a jury would not be able to follow directions for one defendant and ignore them for another. Butler said because a joint trial would rob Houck of his due process any convictions would likely fail on appeal.

Special Prosecutor Teresa Young said federal and state courts have shown that they favor joint trials because all of the cases have the same information, and a joint trial promotes consistent testimony. Young also said the joint trial is needed to show the collaboration between the suspects.

Butler showed video of Lawson’s interviews with police to show what he called Lawson’s changing story and the efforts of law enforcement to guide Lawson to making a certain statement. Butler said the video shows Lawson’s testimony is unreliable, but if he is tried with Houck and chooses not to testify then Houck has no way of refuting the prosecution’s telling of events.

Young called Butler’s arguments “clear as mud”, and said the prosecution is not using Lawson’s grand jury testimony.

Judge Charles Simms III said having heard from Houck and Steven Lawson’s defenses on the motion to join and their objections, he still wanted to hear from Joseph Lawson’s defense on the matter. Joseph Lawson is due back in court on July 18, and Judge Simms said he would rule as quickly as possible after that.