FRANKFORT, Ky. (Court TV) — Attorneys for a man convicted for his role in the death of a missing Kentucky woman claimed the trial judge made a number of errors as he asks the state’s highest court to consider his case.
Joseph Lawson is appealing his convictions in Crystal Rogers’ death. (Kentucky Dept. of Corrections)
Joseph Lawson, 35, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder and complicity to tampering with evidence in the death of Crystal Rogers. Joseph Lawson stood trial alongside Rogers’ boyfriend, Brooks Houck, who was convicted of murder in the case and sentenced to life in prison plus five years.
Rogers disappeared on July 3, 2015, after she went to visit her boyfriend’s family’s farm. Her abandoned car was found on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway two days later with a flat tire. Investigators found her purse and cell phone inside the car; inside the purse was some money, Rogers’ Kentucky ID, her credit card and a Walmart receipt. Her body has never been found.
Both Joseph Lawson and his father, Steve Lawson, worked for Houck; both men were also charged for their roles in her disappearance. “Steve was enticed by empty promises of illusory immunity, after which he gave several disjointed narratives, which were ever-shifting and sometimes seemed hand-fed to him by detectives,” Lawson wrote in his appeal, filed with the Kentucky Supreme Court. “He quickly threw Joey under the bus in an attempt to save himself in his grand jury testimonies.” Steve Lawson was tried and convicted separately on the same charges as his son.
The 88-page brief filed by Joseph Lawson’s attorney points to a number of errors he said culminated in the “fundamentally unfair” trial and merit overturning his conviction, including the failure to separate his trial from Houck’s. Joseph Lawson argues in the appeal that Houck’s involvement garnered media attention and negatively impacted his trial. “As Brooks’ case went to trial, interest in the case continued to grow,” the appeal says. “Joey’s name was dragged through the mud with him. … Much of the evidence related to Brooks would not have been admissible in a trial of Joey alone.”
Media attention was an issue during jury selection, despite the trial being moved out of Nelson County. Joseph Lawson’s appeal says that four jurors should have been struck for cause due to media exposure, saying each “indicated more than a minimal level of extrajudicial knowledge about this case, but were allowed to remain in the jury pool despite efforts to strike them.” One juror, the appeal alleges, lied about how much she had talked about the case with her husband, who was also a juror candidate.
Prosecutors have until June 15 to file their response.
