The judge overseeing the Crystal Rogers murder case has made a decision after one of the three suspects filed a motion to have his charges dropped.
Documents released on Wednesday show a judge has ruled Steve Lawson does not have immunity from prosecution.
Lawson is one of three men charged in connection to the murder and disappearance of Crystal Rogers in 2015. He has been charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit murder.
Lawson last appeared in court back in June, two months after the motion to drop his charges was filed. During that court hearing, Lawson’s attorney, Ted Lavit argued for his client’s motion for immunity.
The order filed Wednesday found Lawson lied too many times during interviews with police, prosecutors and the grand jury. Prosecutors offered him immunity only if Lawson was 100% truthful. That means criminal charges of conspiracy to commit murder will move forward. However, because of that promise of immunity, some of what Lawson said during those police interviews could be excluded from the trial.
Lawson, his son Joseph Lawson and Rogers’ former boyfriend Brooks Houck are all charged in her presumed murder.
Prosecutors want to try all three men together, but Houck’s attorneys don’t want that to happen.
In the ruling on Wednesday, the judge put that discussion on hold until Lawson decides if he wants to exclude the police interviews or use them as part of his defense, as he has previously indicated.
Lawson must make that decision by August 8.
Source: WAVE
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