Live updates: Third day of testimony in Johnson County sheriff’s trial
When Chief Deputy David Blankenship went to tell Johnson County Sheriff Adam King about a sexual harassment problem among the county’s jailers, King deferred action, according to Blankenship’s testimony at King’s trial this week.
The allegations made against a male jailer, King told Blankenship, were spiritual warfare. Satan was attacking the male jailer because his father had done such good work as a minister in the jail. Therefore, King instructed that the jailer be given more chances to correct his behavior, Blankenship testified Wednesday.
Ultimately, the jailer continued the harassing behavior, and was fired, the chief deputy said.
Blankenship’s retelling of the episode was among the more contentious moments of his time on the stand Wednesday: The defense lodged a continuing objection and moved for a mistrial over the remarks. The requests were denied by Judge John Wilson Weeks.
Defense attorneys for King continued their cross-examination of Blankenship on Thursday morning with further questioning about Blankenship’s involvement in the later investigation into King, who is charged with retaliating against a witness who reported allegations that the sheriff sexually harassed an employee.
Blankenship is the sixth witness to take the stand in three days of trial.
The Star-Telegram will provide live updates Thursday throughout the proceedings.
10:45 a.m.: Chief deputy describes evolving ‘conspiracy theories’
In the entire time that Blankenship has been involved with the sexual harassment saga, Sheriff Adam King has presented a host of different theories to try and exonerate himself, Blankenship testified.
At first, the sheriff claimed Anna Goodloe was falsifying the allegations to redirect scrutiny of her husband, Dan Milam, who works in the Sheriff’s Office IT department. Milam and King were at odds over the implementation of new emergency management software, and King alleged Goodloe was trying to take the heat off of her spouse, Blankenship said.
Then, the theory shifted to rumors of an attempted coup by former chief deputy James Saulter, the witness whom King is accused of retaliating against.
Saulter, who ran against King in the 2016 election, was upset about King being sheriff and wanted him removed, King claimed. When Goodloe came forward with her allegations, the “perfect storm” came together for Saulter to conspire with county judge Christopher Boedeker and district attorney Tim Green to make it happen, defense attorneys argued.
The most recent theory had to do with James Saulter’s time sheets.
Saulter did not properly report part-time employment on his time sheets, which defense attorneys claim is the real reason he was placed on administrative leave, instead of anything having to do with the investigation into King. The sheriff later fired Saulter.
The explanations have changed so many times, Blankenship said, that he’s struggling to keep up with what the current story is.
9:45 a.m.: Defense resumes questioning chief deputy
Most of the questioning Wednesday afternoon focused on Blankenship’s time sheets, a stack of which were admitted to evidence.
Blankenship testified that he did not remember occasions of taking sick or vacation time, and defense attorneys used the time cards to display logged instances of that. Attorneys resumed their questioning Thursday with more on the time sheets, attempting to discredit Blankenship’s testimony from the day prior about time-keeping irregularities.
Defense attorneys then questioned Blankenship on his involvement in a civil lawsuit against Johnson County.
In the suit, Blankenship asks for about $250,000 in damages from the county, alleging that he suffered losses when King appointed Capt. Ben Arriola as acting sheriff. The lawsuit, defense attorneys argued, means Blankenship stands to benefit financially from the proceedings against King.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 9:51 AM.
