By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Friday, May 23, 2025 — Jury selection in the trail of Stephen Lawson, one of the three defendants in the disappearance and presumed murder of Crystal Rogers, begins Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at the Warren County Justice Center in Bowling Green.
Lawson faces charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to tampering with physical evidence.
He is the first of the three men charged in Rogers’ disappearance to go to trial. The trial was moved from Nelson County to Bowling Green in order seat an impartial jury.
Jury selection is set to begin at 8:45 a.m. Central time Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Lawson approached investigators on his own, offering them information regarding Rogers’ disappearance. He was offered immunity from prosecution if he told investigators everything he knew about the case, but investigators said Lawson’s stories repeatedly changed and he failed to disclose everything, and the immunity deal was taken off the table.
The trial of Brooks Houck and Lawson’s son, Joseph Lawson, are scheduled to begin next month is Warren Circuit Court.
Due to the tremendous media attention the case has received and the expectation of a large number of media outlets covering Lawson’s trial, Circuit Judge Charles Simms III issued a series of rules earlier this week regarding media access.
Simms has banned the presence of any electronic devices in the courtroom, including cell phones, laptops, video cameras, audio recorders, etc., a move that will return attending media to a time when reporters had only the use of their memories, pen and paper to use while covering the proceedings.
MEDIA SEATING. The court began accepting requests for seating from media outlets earlier today, limiting media outlets to a single seat unless extra seating became available after initial requests were fulfilled.
The Nelson County Gazette will file reports on its Facebook page as well as the WBRT Facebook page. Listen to WBRT AM 1320, FM 97.1 for updates about the trial.
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