Man found guilty in Crystal Rogers case requests new trial

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS 11) — Steve Lawson is asking for a new trial less than a week after a jury found him guilty of all charges related to his role in Crystal Rogers’ disappearance.

Lawson was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. A jury recommended that he be sentenced to 17 years in prison.

In court documents filed Wednesday, Lawson’s attorney argued he wasn’t given adequate preparation time for the trial because of the “uniquely overwhelming volume of discover(y) in this case.”

“Discovery included over 400,000 pages of written documents, and hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of audio and video recording, as well as supplemental discovery provided during 2024 and 2025,” according to the court document.

It continues on to say that while there was some assistance from the court, they were still unable to prepare an adequate defense and that Lawson “barely scratched the surface of his own discovery.”

One of the witnesses, Elizabeth Chesser, also testified she talked with Sherry Ballard during one of the recesses, according to court documents. Lawson’s attorney argued this was prejudicial.

His attorney also argued the court’s order was “regularly violated throughout the jury trial” because people were wearing pink. The color is known as a sign of support for the movement “Team Crystal.”

Before the trial started, the court had released its rules for those entering the courtroom. One of the rules was people were not allowed to wear clothing that “expresses a message related to the case.”

The motion also cited errors involving DNA testing and failures of jury instruction.

The two other suspects in the case, Lawson’s son Joseph and Brooks Houck, are set to go to trial toward the end of June.