Attorney for Brooks Houck calls $10 million bond excessive, asks for it to be $500,000
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Crystal Rogers case
See the major developments of the eight-year investigation into the disappearance of Crystal Rogers.
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The attorney representing Brooks Houck in the murder case against him for allegedly killing Crystal Rogers has asked a judge to consider lowering his $10 million bond, according to court documents.
Houck, 41, was arrested last Wednesday approximately one week after a Nelson County grand jury handed down an indictment against him. He faces charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence.
The indictment against Houck says he, “acting alone or in complicity with another, committed the offense of murder by intentionally or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life wantonly causing the death of Crystal Rogers.” He also, “destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered the physical evidence which he believed was about to be produced or used in such official proceeding, with the intent to impair its verity or availability in the official proceeding,” his indictment reads.
Houck is being held at the Hardin County Detention Center, according to jail records.
Houck’s lawyer, Brian Butler, has asked for his client’s bond to be lowered to $500,000. In his motion, he called the $10 million bond excessive and punitive.
“A $10,000,000 bond simply ignores Mr. Houck’s constitutional right to the presumption of innocence,” Butler wrote in his motion.
Butler said Houck would agree to electronic GPS monitoring with work release if a bond is posted.
“A $10,000,000 bond is excessive, punitive, and serves no purpose other than to punish Mr. Houck by keeping him incarcerated while this matter is pending,” Butler wrote in the motion.
Butler pointed out how Houck cooperated with law enforcement during the investigation despite being named a suspect early on. Houck agreed to police interrogation and even took a polygraph test, which showed no signs of deception when he denied wrongdoing related to Rogers’ disappearance.
Houck has also been subjected to character assassination for eight years by the press’ coverage of the investigation, Butler wrote in the motion. Nonetheless, Houck stayed in Nelson County and continued running his business while maintaining his innocence.
Butler said Houck’s business would fail before a jury decides to convict Houck if the $10 million bond keeps him incarcerated during the judicial process.
“He has never run away, but instead has tried to be the best father, son, sibling, and business owner he could be in the face of it all,” Butler wrote in the motion.
Houck is a low flight risk and a low risk of danger to the community based on his lack of criminal history and connections to the community, Butler said in the motion.
A judge will respond to Butler’s motion during Houck’s arraignment on Thursday. The hearing will take place at 1 p.m. at Nelson County Circuit Court, according to court records.
This story was originally published October 3, 2023 at 7:52 AM.
