WQXE News

Crystal Rogers investigation suspect Joseph Lawson has been granted a bond reduction, but not to the extent requested by his attorney.

Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III entered an order Monday reducing Lawson’s bond from $500,000 to $250,000. Lawson’s attorney had requested a bond reduction to $50,000 and for Lawson to be released on home incarceration to attend an inpatient treatment facility.

Simms said the court considered the gravity of the charges Lawson faces, which carry a potential sentence of up to 25 years in prison. Simms’s order states that pretrial assessment described Lawson as a moderate flight risk and a moderate risk to reoffend. Simms also considered Lawson’s criminal history, which includes at least two felony convictions, and noted that Lawson is currently incarcerated at the Kentucky State Reformatory while serving a one-year sentence for a first degree Criminal Mischief charge.

Simms previously granted a $250,000 bond reduction for Lawson’s father Stephen Lawson, who faces the same charges as Joseph Lawson. Simms previously denied a bond reduction for Brooks Houck, who faces charges of Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence in the case.

Houck, Joseph Lawson, and Stephen Lawson are all due back in Nelson Circuit Court for a status conference on March 21.

The Lincoln Trail District Health Department says Hardin County has received certification from the state as a Recovery Ready Community.

“It gives us a framework to look at what is going on in the community around youth prevention initiatives, substance use prevention initiatives, harm reduction, treatment, recovery support for individuals that are in recovery,” said LTDHD Harm Reduction Manager Jennifer Osborne. “It gives us an idea of what is already in place in the community and what we might see as opportunities for improvement in a community.”

Hardin County received a score of 252 points in the state’s review of the county’s application, needing 225 points for the certification.

Osborne said one of the county’s strengths is it already has a strong agency for substance abuse policy board in place to discuss recovery and prevention issues, as well as the availability of several organizations to offer services. Another strength is the partnership of several organizations and entities coming together to address the issues.

“For instance, the partnership between the health department and the Communicare regional prevention center, our partnership with the Drug Court there in Hardin County, our EMS and coroner’s office, as well as Baptist Health Hardin,” Osborne said.

One area of improvement identified was the need for a quick response team which would reach out to victims and families after a non-fatal overdose, which Osborne said is already in development in Hardin County. 

Osborne said Hardin County is fortunate to have the coordination it does, something that helped the health department as they prepared their application for certification.

“Having somebody who can kind of case manage or help coordinate care for an individual, a lot of times that is a solution to some of that problem of having all of these fantastic resources but how do we get people to utilize them effectively, and that care management a lot of times helps with that problem,” Osborne said.

Learn more about the Recovery Ready Certification at rrcky.org.

The three men charged in the Crystal Rogers investigation made brief appearances in Nelson Circuit Court Thursday.

Brooks Houck, who is charged with Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence, along with Stephen Lawson and Joseph Lawson, who are each charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence, appeared in person for the status hearing. The hearing began about 40 minutes later than scheduled, which Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III said was due to a delay in transferring Joseph Lawson to the courtroom from the Kentucky State Reformatory.

The primary purpose of the hearing was to review the status of discovery in the case. Special Prosecutor Shane Young said more than one terabyte of data has been transferred to the defense attorneys, with less than a terabyte still needing to be transferred. Young said due to the complexity of the case and in order to give the defenses enough time to review, a trial date in 2024 was unlikely. A trial date, subject to counsels completing review, was set for February 10, 2025.

Young said discovery should be completed by mid-March, by which time the prosecution should be ready to submit a motion to join the three cases in order to try all three suspects in the same trial. Houck’s defense also plans to have a motion for a change of venue submitted by that time. A status conference for all three suspects was scheduled for March 21.

Houck and Stephen Lawson then departed the courtroom, after which the court considered a request to reduce Joseph Lawson’s bond from $500,000 to $50,000 with a medical release to home incarceration with GPS monitoring. Lawson’s defense said Lawson is a paraplegic, which limits his independent movement and ability to flee, and having Lawson incarcerated hampers his defense as they said was evidenced by the delay in getting him to the courtroom. The prosecution argued against the reduction, stating that Lawson’s criminal history proves he can’t be trusted to obey orders from the court, and said when Lawson originally learned he was a suspect he began contacting associates to ask them to cover for him and help him create an alibi, so a release runs the risk of allowing Lawson to further obstruct justice. Judge Simms said he would rule on the motion as soon as he could.