LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A judge declined to delay the May 27 trial of Steve Lawson, one of three defendants charged in the murder of Crystal Rogers, in order to perform DNA testing on two hairs found in her car in 2015.
In a ruling Friday, Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III wrote that even if testing identified who the hairs belonged to, it would not exclude Lawson’s possible involvement in the alleged murder.
Lawson’s attorneys have argued the hairs could point to another possible suspect, including Nick Houck, the brother of Lawson’s co-defendant, Brooks Houck.
But in his order, Simms said he “found no merit with this argument” and that a hair standard from Nick Houck was compared to all the hairs found in Rogers’ driver seat and floorboard and were “different” from his hair. The order does not say when this testing occurred.
“With all those hairs being ‘different,’ it would be fruitless to conduct DNA testing to see whether the hairs belong to” Nick Houck, the judge ruled.
And the judge pointed out that Steve Lawson has already said he and his son co-defendant, Joseph Lawson, were in Rogers’ vehicle after she disappeared.
Steve Lawson has said Joseph Lawson, “drove Crystal’s vehicle west on the Bluegrass (Parkway) to, I believe it was Mile Marker 14 or 16, where he had a flat tire.”
Steve Lawson picked his son up and also removed a miniature Louisville Slugger bat from the vehicle, according to the ruling.
There is also evidence of telephone calls and data from their phones to establish that Steve Lawson and his son were near Roger’s vehicle after she disappeared, Simms wrote.
In addition, Simms ruled the DNA analysis would take months to complete and likely not be beneficial as it is unlikely the hairs have any relation to Rogers’ disappearance.
“This Court believes that Lawson is simply attempting to further delay this proceeding,” according to the order. Lawson’s trial has already been delayed once.
In a statement, attorneys for Steve Lawson said they are “disappointed” with the ruling and “it remains our genuine believe that in order to prevent a rush to judgement in this case, all evidence needs to be fully analyzed.”
The attorneys, Darren Wolff and Zach Butler, also bristled at the judge’s view their request is a delay tactic, saying Lawson has the right to be presumed innocent “and afforded the right to fully defend him/herself.
“In spite of the latest ruling, we will continue to do whatever we can do ensure our client’s rights are protected and the truth comes to light in this case.”
The Kentucky State Police Lab told prosecutors in 2016 that it had two hairs taken from Rogers’ car after her disappearance. However, they were never tested for a DNA profile.
Judge Simms ruled that defense attorneys will be able to tell jurors there were two hairs found in the vehicle that prosecutors decided not to test and “that there is a possibility that the person with unknown hair was somehow involved with these crimes.”
Rogers was last seen with her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, during the Fourth of July weekend in 2015. Her car was left running on the side of Bluegrass Parkway with her purse still inside. She’s presumed dead, but her body was never found.
Steve Lawson’s attorneys argued Monday his rights would be violated if the testing wasn’t done, and that they were not currently arguing the relevance of the hairs.
In that hearing, special prosecutor Shane Young called the request a “fishing expedition” and argued that finding someone else’s hair in the vehicle wouldn’t prove anything.
“The presence of any other individual’s hairs … does nothing, absolutely nothing” to clear Lawson of a crime, he said Monday. “What will we gain from testing these hairs? What is the relevance of it?”
Young, in fact, said he is to blame for the uproar over the untested hairs, telling the judge he “freaked out” when he found they had not been tested because they may belong to the defendants.
But on Monday, Young said he was ignorant of the initial analysis of the hairs and didn’t realize they were too long to be either Steve Lawson or Joseph Lawson’s hair.
In Simms’ order, he also noted “it is quite apparent that these two hairs do not belong to Lawson.”
The defense can also tell the jury that the hairs do not belong to Steve Lawson or his son, according to the order.
Steve Lawson is scheduled to stand trial in Warren County next month with Houck and Joseph Lawson scheduled later in June. Both trials were moved out of Nelson County because of the massive amount of publicity surrounding the case.
Steve Lawson, according to a Dec. 6, 2023, Nelson County indictment, agreed to “aid one or more persons in the planning or commission” of the death of another and then “destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed” or altered physical evidence on July 3 or July 4, 2015, when Rogers disappeared.
Houck’s indictment accused him of “acting alone or in complicity with another” committing the offense of murder of Rogers. He’s also charged with tampering when he “destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered” physical evidence, according to the indictment.
Joseph Lawson pleaded not guilty in September 2023 to criminal conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in the Rogers case. He isn’t charged with Rogers’ murder but is charged him with conspiracy, meaning they believe he was involved in some way with Rogers’ killer.
