On May 9, 2016, 27-year-old Brice Blankenship was arrested in Waller County, Texas and charged with sexually molesting his stepdaughter, K.H. when she was 2½ years old.
According to the charge, super aggravated assault of a child under the age of six, in September 2015, K.H., who was then four years and five months old, alleged that in late 2013 or early 2014, Blankenship had put his penis in her mouth.
At the time of the accusation, K.B., K.H’s mother, was separated from Blankenship. Their relationship was pockmarked by drug use and by verbal and physical fighting. K.B. had been arrested at one point for assaulting Blankenship. K.B. would later testify that when they lived together, she and Blankenship had a room in their residence where they consumed methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.
While they were separated, K.B. had been dating Delbert Vickers. On September 10, 2015, K.H. told her mother that Vickers had sexually molested her. K.B. went to the police in Hempstead, Texas and filed a report. She was advised to take K.H. to the hospital for a physical examination. K.B. called Blankenship, who accompanied them to the hospital. There was no evidence of assault. Child Protective Services was notified, and K.H. was scheduled for an interview on September 15. K.B. and K.H. as well as K.B’s two other children, moved back in with Blankenship.
On the morning of the interview regarding the allegation against Vickers, K.B. dropped K.H. off at the home of K.B.’s sister, A.H. A.H. questioned K.H. further and K.H. said for the first time that Blankenship had put his penis in her mouth when they were in his van watching a “Scooby-Doo” movie.
As a result, K.B. took K.H. to the Waller County Sheriff’s office and filed a complaint. Two days later, K.H. went for a forensic interview at the Fort Bend Child Advocacy Center. K.H. began the interview by blurting out that Blankenship, who she called “Daddy,” had put his “pee-pee” in her mouth.
During the interview, K.H. said others also had molested her, including other children and an adult she called “Kinsey.”
As a result of the interview, Blankenship and Vickers were separately charged with assaulting K.H.
Blankenship went to trial in Waller County Criminal District Court in February 2019. A mistrial was declared when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
The case was subsequently delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the retrial, Blankenship’s defense attorney, Lee Van Richardson Jr., filed a motion seeking to present an expert witness on memory and to discuss the interviewing techniques employed during K.H.’s forensic interview.
During a hearing on the motion, the expert, Dr. Bryan Sweeney, a forensic psychologist from Webster, Texas, testified that the forensic interview, conducted by Heather Burger, had been problematic. The most serious issue, he said, was that Burger had never established whether K.H. knew the difference between truth or a lie.
“[T]hroughout the interview [Burger] was never able to… establish whether the child understood the difference between a truth or a lie. And that's probably the most important aspect of a [forensic] interview,” Sweeney testified. “So [Burger] asked [K.H.] initially if she knew the difference between a truth or a lie and the little girl was not able to answer. [Burger] then asked her [in] various ways the difference between truth or a lie. She was not able to answer.”
“There were also concerns that the child did not know her birthday. She did not know how old she was by using numbers,” Dr. Sweeney said. “She knew how old she was by raising her fingers and saying, for example, she raised her fingers and said that many. But when she asked her how many that was, she was unable to tell her how many that was.”
Dr. Sweeney said that Burger asked multiple leading questions, which is “not something you are supposed to do with children.” Dr. Sweeney said that K.H. had mentioned that “all my friends do that to me, too” or “everybody does that to me.”
“She named specific friends that did things to her,” Dr. Sweeney said. “She named another man (not Vickers) that did things to her. And used almost the exact description” as she had when talking about Blankenship. Yet, Burger had failed to follow up on those comments and tried to focus K.H. on Blankenship. “So, it was almost like [Burger] was trying to keep her in a specific lane. And that’s something, you know, that you’re not supposed to do with a child, especially one that young.”
The motion was granted to allow Sweeney to testify.
Blankenship went to trial in November 2021. The charge carried a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. As he had prior to his first trial, Blankenship rejected a prosecution offer to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for a sentence of 10 years in prison.
The prosecution’s case was based on the testimony of K.H., who had been born in April 2011, and by then was 10 years old. Although she did not remember precisely when the incident had occurred, she said it was either in late 2013 or early in 2014. She said it occurred in Blankenship’s purple van. The defense noted that while Blankenship had a van, it was black, and it had no system for showing a video, although his previous vehicle, a GMC Yukon, did have that capability. K.H. said the incident occurred when Blankenship was living with a friend named Cameron and that it occurred more than once.
K.H.’s mother, K.B., testified that through much of her relationship with Blankenship, they lived apart because they were unable to have a place to live. She said that when Blankenship was staying with his friend, she would bring K.H. over after she finished work. Blankenship watched over K.H. while she napped. She said that K.H. loved Blankenship and called him “Daddy.”
A.H., K.H.’s aunt, testified about the conversation she had during which K.H. made the first accusation against Blankenship. She denied that she had asked suggestive questions that prompted K.H. to implicate Blankenship.
A.H. did say that K.H. was overly sexualized for such a young age. K.H. “had a very sexual nature. As a young kid, she knew and did things that would make anybody raise their eyebrow,” A.H. said.
She related two incidents that occurred prior to K.H. making her allegations. In one instance, A.H. said she had found K.H. fondling the penis of A.H.’s then 1½ year-old son. On another prior occasion, she had found K.H. in bed with her son, and both were naked from the waist down.
Heather Burger testified about the forensic interview and a video recording of the interview was played for the jury. She insisted that she had followed proper protocols during the interview and denied suggestions by Richardson during cross-examination that she had been suggestive and failed to follow up on K.H.’s comments about others molesting her.
Richardson called Dr. Sweeney, who testified about how young children create memories. Sweeney testified that a child of 2½ would have an inability to create a memory that lasted as long as a year afterward. He said it would be very difficult for a 4½-year-old to remember something that happened when she was 2½.
Before Dr. Sweeney was allowed to testify about the forensic interview, the prosecution questioned him about his experience in that area. Dr. Sweeney conceded that he had only watched 10 forensic interviews in his career and admitted that he had not conducted any forensic interviews based on the protocol adopted in Texas and other states.
The prosecution objected to allowing Dr. Sweeney to testify about the forensic interview. The judge agreed and forbade that testimony.
In rebuttal, the prosecution called Fiona Remko, the director of the center where the forensic interview had been conducted. Remko said she had viewed the video and that Burger’s interview was properly conducted according to protocol.
On December 3, 2021, the jury convicted Blankenship of super aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of six.
Three days later, the trial prosecutor, Melissa Hudspeth, disclosed to the defense that A.H., the aunt of K.H., had a prior conviction for theft which resulted in a jail sentence. The defense filed a motion for a new trial asserting that this was information that could have been used to attack A.H.’s credibility. The motion was denied, and Blankenship was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
In October 2022, Vickers pled guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In November 2022, the Texas 14 th Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence.
In June 2023, attorney Randy Schaffer filed a state law petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking to overturn Blankenship’s conviction. The petition cited the failure of the prosecution to disclose A.H.’s theft conviction and the failure of Richardson to bring a qualified expert to critique the forensic interview. The petition also said that Richardson had failed to cross-examine K.B., the girl’s mother, about inconsistent statements she made in the two trials.
In September 2023, following a hearing, Judge Albert McCaig Jr. signed a recommendation that the writ be granted. The judge said that Blankenship had not gotten a fair trial based on the prosecution’s failure to disclose the theft conviction of a key witness, and that Richardson had failed to cross-examine K.H.’s mother about inconsistent statements and failed to bring in a qualified expert to opine on Burger’s forensic interview.
The judge noted that the defense was “greatly damaged” by the lack of an expert. The judge noted that Schaffer had demonstrated at the evidentiary hearing that Burger’s interview “was inadequate.”
On November 1, 2023, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ, vacated Blankenship’s conviction, and ordered a new trial. On November 27, Blankenship was released on bond.
On May 8, 2025, the prosecution dismissed the case.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 07-01-2025
Last Update Date: 07-01-2025
