Nicholas Houck appears for arraignment without attorney

Nicholas Houck, the brother of the man convicted for the murder of Crystal Rogers, appeared in Nelson Circuit Court Thursday for arraignment on a Class D Felony Perjury charge.

When Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III initially called Houck’s case, Houck said his attorney was Patrick Renn, who was not present but Houck said was supposed to be there. Simms gave Houck time to contact Renn, but when he called the case again Renn was still not present.

Houck said Renn had told him to “proceed on without him.” Prosecutors told the judge they contacted Renn and he said he has not been retained, and the prosecutors said he has not entered an appearance in the case. When Simms asked Houck how long it would take him to get an attorney, Houck said Renn is going to be his attorney “but this is something I can deal with.” Simms said the commonwealth said Renn has not been retained.

“He wants to know what you guys are getting at before he kind of makes a decision,” Houck said.

“He wants to know what you guys are- doing what now?” asked Simms.

“Yeah, I’m being charged with perjury, and I have no idea why you guys have charged me with that,” Houck said

“First of all, I don’t charge people with perjury,” Simms said.

Houck said he has had several conversations with Renn, but the attorney wanted information on the case before he made a decision. Simms appointed a public defender to stand in for Houck in order to proceed with the arraignment.

The public defender waived formal indictment and entered a plea of not guilty. Simms scheduled a hearing for July 2 to set the case for trial and pre-trial. Simms told Houck to have an attorney present at that time, and said he would review the commonwealth’s motion to correct the record on the indictment at that time.