SEGUIN, Texas – The Fourth Court of Appeals has reversed the manslaughter convictions of a Schertz couple found guilty in the 2008 death of an 8-year-old girl.
The appellate court found there was insufficient evidence of criminal recklessness in the case against David Brasse, 39, and Samantha Britain, 36.
In 2011, David Brasse and Samantha Britain were each sentenced to three-year prison terms for the death of Brasse's daughter, Sarah.
A jury convicted Brasse and Britain of manslaughter and also convicted Britain of injury to a child by reckless omission.
During the trial, the state argued the couple neglected the child and left her to die in a bed soiled by her own vomit. The child started complaining of a stomach ache the morning before her death and started vomiting the night before.
A doctor, whom the state called as an expert, testified that a reasonable parent would have taken their child to the emergency room if the child had been vomiting for more than 24 hours.
In its opinion on Britain, the appeals panel called the death tragic, but said there was no evidence that Britain knew Sarah could die from symptoms that are common to childhood illness.
The Guadalupe county district attorney has not decided whether to appeal to the courts ruling.
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