LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The three men charged in connection with the murder of Crystal Rogers should stand trial together on Feb. 10, 2025, given they are facing the same charges and allegedly worked with each other, the prosecutor in the case said in a motion.

Prosecutor Shane Young asked a judge to join the cases against Brooks Houck, Joseph Lawson and Steve Lawson into one trial given they are alleged to have "acted in concert to accomplish the murder of Crystal Rodgers and to dispose of evidence which would conceal the murder."

In a motion filed Thursday, Young said the facts and evidence in each case will be the same, and trying them together will give a jury the "full picture" of what happened to Rogers.

In addition, all three defendants have asked for a change of venue, arguing the massive amount of publicity in the case has poisoned the jury pool in this part of the state. Young said the logistics of "moving a case of this nature and size would be monumental" and requiring it be done multiple times would be a "waste of judicial resources."

Attorney Kevin Coleman, who represents Joseph Lawson, said he will likely object to the motion and will formally file something soon with the court.

Steve Lawson's attorney, Ted Lavit, said he will be objecting as well, saying it is prejudicial to his client to use evidence that pertains to Houck or his son, Joseph.

"It stigmatizes my client," he said. "They are pointing with too broad a brush."

Brian Butler, an attorney for Houck, declined to comment. 

Rogers was last seen with her boyfriend, 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.

The defense attorneys have asked that the 2025 trial be moved out of Bardstown because the massive amount of publicity has tainted potential jurors.

They have suggested Boyd County or Daviess County, since they are outside the Louisville and Lexington media markets and are "demographically" similar to Nelson.

Joseph Lawson, 32, pleaded not guilty in September to criminal conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in the Rogers case. He is not charged with Rogers' murder, but prosecutors instead charged him with conspiracy, meaning they believe he was involved in some fashion with whoever killed Rogers.

The maximum sentence for the conspiracy charge is 10-20 years in prison.

In addition, the indictment charges Lawson with complicity to tampering with physical evidence when he "destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered physical evidence." The maximum penalty for that charge is one to five years in prison.

Steve Lawson, according to a Dec. 6 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.

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