BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Steven Lawson, who is one of three men charged in connection to the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers, had his trial begin Tuesday morning at the Warren County Justice Center in Bowling Green.
Opening statements began at 1:30 p.m. CT. Defense told the jury evidence will show Lawson is guilty of tampering with evidence, but the prosecution won’t be able to show that he took part in conspiracy to commit murder.
Rogers' mother, Sherry Ballard, was the first witness called by prosecution. She said the relationship between her daughter and Rogers’ boyfriend at the time, Brooks Houck, had deteriorated.
The second witness was Deputy Jon Snow, who was the lead detective for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office at the time of Rogers’ disappearance. Cross-examination of Snow will continue on Wednesday, May 28.
The morning began with a pre-trial hearing where Lawson's defense team asked for a continuance to delay the trial yet again. Attorney Darren Wolff argued his defense team has not had enough time to review all the discovery in this case, referencing more than 400,000 written documents and hundreds of video and audio interviews.
Wolff told Judge Charles Simms, "We do not feel adequately prepared," and "As we stand, we have not been able to review everything."
Simms responded while the discovery is voluminous, much of it is "completely irrelevant" to Lawson and the defense had sufficient time to review what mattered in the case against him. The motion for continuance was denied.
Simms then heard arguments for and against allowing a single media-operated pool camera, which the judge also denied. The trial of Lawson moves forward without any outside use of cameras and audio recorders. Reporters may only take handwritten notes.
The court immediately moved onto jury selection, maintaining a continuous pool of 37 potential jurors. Between questions from Simms, then special prosecutor Shane Young and finally from Lawson's attorney, multiple juror candidates were excused and new candidates were brought in. By Tuesday afternoon, the pool of 37 was reduced to 12 jurors and several alternates.
Young told the court he expects to rest between Thursday afternoon and Friday. Simms told the jury pool to expect the trial to last through Monday.
Lawson was charged Dec. 8, 2023 with tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to commit murder. He is one of three men charged in the case, along with Joseph Lawson, Steven's son, and Houck.
Rogers was reported missing by her mother, Sherry Ballard, July 5, 2015. Rogers hadn’t been seen since the night of July 3. Her car was found abandoned with a flat tire on the Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown. Rogers’ keys, phone and purse were still inside of the red Chevrolet Impala.
Rogers was a 35-year-old mother of five. She is presumed dead even though her body has never been found.
Joseph Lawson and Houck will be tried together in June.
