LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Supreme Court of Kentucky has ruled a Nelson County judge can remain on the bench for Brooks Houck's murder trial.
In a court document filed Monday, Chief Justice Lawrence B. VanMeter denied a motion to place a new judge on the case. Houck's attorneys argued Judge Charles Simms should recuse himself due to a family court case he presided over six years ago.
Houck is charged with murder in the death of his former girlfriend Crystal Rogers, who disappeared from Bardstown in 2015.
"It is ordered that the Defendant has failed to demonstrate any disqualifying circumstance that would require the appointment of a special judge under Kentucky Revised Statues 26A.020," Justice VanMeter wrote in his decision. "The request is denied without prejudice of any party to seek appellate review after entry of a final judgment."
Defense attorney Brian Butler claimed “Judge Simms’ behavior with regard to Mr. Houck is such that his impartiality might reasonably be questioned from the perspective of a reasonable observer who is informed on all of the surrounding facts and circumstances.”
The attorney included multiple exhibits -- what he suggested show bias toward Houck.
Defense attorneys alleged the bias extends beyond the murder case, to a previous custody dispute that Houck was not a party to. It was a case between his significant other Crystal Maupin and her ex-husband.
At the time Judge Simms wrote, "The court is simply astonished that Crystal would want a relationship with this man [Brooks Houck] who is the prime suspect in the disappearance and presumed death of his previous girlfriend."
Last week Judge Simms said he would not recuse himself, and said every decision he made in that previous case was to the benefit of Houck.
"Had this judge been prejudiced and biased against Brooks, it is simply unimaginable that Brooks would have prevailed on every issue related to him," he wrote.
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