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A jury of 15 people, including three alternatives, were seated Tuesday, and opening statements will begin Wednesday morning for defendants Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson.
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Nelson County Judge Charles Simms III moved the trial from February to late May to give defense attorneys more time to review evidence in the case.
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The judge is still deciding if the trial for Joseph, his father, Steve, and Brooks Houck, should be separate or not.
In a hearing focused on whether to separate the trials for Brooks Houck, Joseph Lawson and Steve Lawson, prosecutor Shane Young was asked by the judge whether the searches in early September would produce more evidence in the case.
"No, sir, not much," Young told Judge Chares Simms III.
In March, the prosecutor, Shane Young, agreed with a motion filed by attorneys for Houck, Joseph Lawson and Steve Lawson that there has been too much publicity since Rogers disappeared in 2015 to find an unbiased jury in Nelson County.
For a third straight day, dozens of federal agents searched two rural Nelson County properties that were once owned by members of Brooks Houck's family in the latest investigation into Crystal Rogers' death.
Steve Lawson also has given about 20 hours of contradictory testimony and information about the case, Brooks Houck's attorney Brian Butler told a Nelson County judge at a hearing Monday
Here's what you can expect to learn on Monday when Brooks Houck is in court.
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Prosecutor Shane Young has 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.”
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Steve Lawson, 1 of 3 men charged in Crystal Rogers case, says he was promised immunity for testimony
Attorney Theodore Lavit will argue in a court hearing March 21 that Lawson was interviewed by the Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office and the FBI repeatedly in the years since Rogers disappeared in 2015 and “from the very beginning,” police and prosecutors made it clear any statements made would not be used against him.