Trial recap: What jurors heard from prosecution witnesses in Sheriff King case

Testimony in the criminal trial of Johnson County Sheriff Adam King wrapped up its second week with prosecutors resting their case against him. King faces charges of abuse of office and retaliation tied to a sexual harassment investigation involving a sheriff’s office employee.

As the defense begins presenting its case on Monday, July 6, here are key takeaways from what’s happened at the trial so far:

• Lt. Richard Hogan testified Monday, June 29, about a recorded August 2025 phone call with Chief Deputy James Saulter, who asked whether Hogan had met with the sheriff’s attorneys, during the trial’s sixth day. Hogan said he drove to King’s house and played the recording for the sheriff. King is accused in the indictment of retaliating against Saulter for reporting allegations that King sexually harassed employee Anna Goodloe.
• Acting Sheriff Ben Arriola told jurors that King placed two video cameras inside King’s office and planned to have his wife retrieve them after the indictment, and that King said he intended to destroy his computer’s hard drive, on the trial’s seventh day.
• Corrections officer Cody Carrol testified he was assigned as a “spiritual bodyguard” to King for 17 days, tasked with making audio recordings and serving as an eyewitness to shield King from future harassment allegations.
• King said he believed IT director Dan Milam — the husband of Anna Goodloe — might remotely plant child pornography on the sheriff’s office computer, jurors heard from Carrol and Arriola.
• Office manager Tara Raby described King’s daily “tea time” sessions as long stretches that involved “Sheriff King telling stories about Sheriff King,” rather than the employee interaction opportunities he billed them as.
• Texas Ranger Patrick Garcia testified that the Aug. 13 meeting where Saulter made remarks about King and former office manager Karen Charles was a “set-up” to bait Saulter, and that placing him on leave hours later was a “direct act to silence an informant,” as prosecutors played video from King’s office cameras.
• Prosecutors rested their case Thursday, July 2, after two days of testimony from Garcia, with the defense beginning its case Monday morning following the Independence Day holiday.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.