Brooks Houck appeared virtually from the Hardin County Detention Center for his court arraignment Thursday afternoon.
Houck was arrested last week and charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in the 2015 disappearance of his former girlfriend, Crystal Rogers. He has entered a plea of not guilty of all charges.
Since her disappearance, Houck was named a person of interest in the case. Houck’s attorney, Brian Butler, filed a motion in Nelson County Circuit Court to have Houck’s $10 million bond lowered to $500,000 full cash. He argued the bond “simply ignores Mr. Houck’s constitutional right to the presumption of innocence” and is both contrary to Kentucky law precedent and unconstitutional.
During the hearing, Butler reinforced the motion, saying the $10 million bond is excessive and that he has never seen one this high in his 28-year career. The motion asks for Houck to have a GPS monitor with work release if he posts bond.
Butler said Houck was evaluated and the risk of him not appearing in court is classified as low. The court’s pretrial services stated that the appearance probability for Houck is 87%
Houck was also assessed on the likelihood of him staying arrest-free pending trial. Butler said Houck was again classified as low risk.
Despite being named a suspect in the case eight years ago, Butler noted that Houck has remained in Nelson County running his business.
Butler claimed Houck stayed in Nelson County because of his strong ties to the area, including having his family, friends and business there.
Young responded to the argument, saying Houck’s bond is not punitive or excessive.
Young says bond is not generated based on crime alone, because each defendant is situated differently. As for Houck, Young argued that with the number of rental properties he derives income from on a monthly basis on top of the revenue made by running his business, a $10 million bond is a “fair bond.”
The judge did not make a decision on Houck’s bond during Thursday’s hearing. Houck’s next hearing date is set for February.
When the judge asked if the Commonwealth wanted to go anywhere with any other investigations in regard to the Crystal Rogers case, Young responded yes, saying they are investigating the murder of Tommy Ballard.
Young told the judge the state is in possession of the gun they believe was used to kill Tommy Ballard. He said testing is being done on the firearm and it has matched four of the five criteria used to determine if it is the same firearm. Results on the fifth criteria are pending.
The firearm was purchased from Nicholas Houck, who was using a fake name when he sold the rifle.
Houck’s brother Nick was fired from his job as a police officer with Bardstown Police Department after he was accused of interfering with the investigation.
Source: WAVE
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