Attorneys for Brooks Houck have filed a motion for a change of venue.
In a motion submitted to the Nelson County Circuit Court Thursday, lawyers for Houck are requesting the trial be moved to either Boyd County or Daviess County. Houck is charged with Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence following his arrest in the investigation into the disappearance of Crystal Rogers.
The motion states that Houck cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial in Nelson County or any county in Central Kentucky “due to the significant prejudicial pretrial publicity this case has received.” Houck’s lawyers also feel spillover coverage of the death of Rogers’s father Tommy Ballard will impact the case, including the fact that prosecutors argued during a bond reduction hearing for Houck that his brother Nick Houck is the primary suspect in that case.
The motion states that shortly after Rogers’s disappearance law enforcement named Houck the lone person of interest in the case and released portions of Houck’s interview with police to the media. Included examples of pretrial publicity in the motion are signs that have been placed around Bardstown and Nelson County related to Rogers’s disappearance that say Houck is the main suspect, the local newspaper the Bardstown Standard publishing more than 200 articles about Houck, and extensive media coverage from news outlets in Louisville and Lexington. Lawyers also cite a court decision to grant Houck a change of venue for a case involving unrelated charges against Houck in 2018 that moved that case from Nelson County to Warren County based on publicity from the Rogers investigation.
The motion states that Boyd County is ideal and Daviess County is a suitable alternate as they are located outside of the Louisville and Lexington TV markets and are less than three hours from Nelson County. Houck’s lawyers say “there is no ‘pattern of deep and bitter prejudice’ against Brooks present in Boyd or Daviess County.”
The change of venue motion will be argued during a hearing scheduled for March 21. That is the same day the defense for Steven Lawson, who is charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence following his arrest in the Rogers investigation, is scheduled to argue a motion to dismiss based on claims that Lawson was offered immunity.
