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Timothy Jones Jr.- Case Archive
personpersonApril HamesApril HamesTherapist who saw Timothy Jones for marriage therapy beginning in 2012.← All People
Expert witness

April Hames

Courtroom still of April Hames.

Therapist who saw Timothy Jones for marriage therapy beginning in 2012.

Appeared2019 Murder Trial
231 lines·8 proceedings·4 mentions

About

April Hames, a marriage and family therapist, testified for the defense on Day 18 about counseling Tim Jones received in 2012 and early 2013. She described his reported marital distress, fears of abandonment, religious views, concerns about his children, and efforts to obtain counseling for them. After he said he wanted to strangle Amber, Hames questioned him and found no plan or timeline to harm her.

Hames identified records reflecting recurrent moderate major depressive disorder and an unspecified nonpsychotic mental-disorder code. Defense Exhibit 134, her affidavit for a Family Court emergency hearing involving the children, was admitted. The court sustained the State's relevance objection before she answered a question about diagnostic codes on the children's records.

On cross-examination, after the court qualified her as an expert in marriage and family counseling, Hames explained her diagnoses and said she had not observed delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, flat affect, or avolition during treatment. Redirect addressed the limits of her practice concerning traumatic brain injuries and whether schizophrenia symptoms can be masked. On recross, she agreed that people can fake symptoms of schizophrenia.

Key Points

Trial Record (8)

Trial 12019 Murder TrialApr 29, 2019 – Jun 13, 2019Called by defense

April Hames testified on Day 18 about her 2012 to early 2013 counseling of Tim Jones, including reported relationship distress, diagnoses, and her assessment of a reported threat. Cross-examination tested her contemporaneous observations for psychotic symptoms, followed by redirect and recross on symptom masking and faking.

Day 18

DirectApril Hames — DirectApril HamesBoyd Young3highlights112lines spoken

Summary

April Hames described counseling records concerning Tim's marital distress, parenting, reported mental-health symptoms, and diagnostic codes; Defense Exhibit 134 was admitted.

Highlights (3)

evidence eventDefense Exhibit 134, Hames's affidavit concerning events Tim had shared for a Family Court emergency hearing involving the children, was admitted without objection.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
testimony highlightHames testified that Tim reported wanting to strangle Amber, but said her follow-up inquiry found no plan or timeline and she treated it as a figure of speech.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossApril Hames — CrossApril HamesShawn Graham2highlights109lines spoken

Summary

Hames testified that she observed no delusions or hallucinations during counseling of Tim Jones, was qualified as an expert, and discussed her custody affidavit.

Highlights (2)

testimony highlightHames testified that during her 2012–13 counseling of Tim Jones, she observed no delusions or hallucinations and described his disorganized thoughts, emotional range, and activity as consistent with the circumstances she observed.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“In my professional opinion, Mr. Jones is a highly intelligent, responsible father who is capable of caring for his children as the sole custodial parent.”— April HamesThe affidavit read to the jury stated Hames's earlier custody-related opinion of Tim Jones.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
RedirectApril Hames — RedirectApril HamesBoyd Young2highlights9lines spoken

Summary

Hames gave qualified testimony on brain-injury limits, reported reconciliation discussions, and the possible masking of schizophrenia symptoms.

Highlights (2)

testimony highlightAfter objections and a bench conference concerning a schizophrenia hypothetical, Hames testified that signs could be masked to a certain extent depending on symptom severity.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“I think it would depend on the severity of the symptoms, the delusions, the hallucinations, but yes, to a certain extent, you can mask them.”— April HamesHames gave a qualified answer to the defense hypothetical about masking schizophrenia symptoms.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 20

Day 23

DirectJulie Dorney — DirectJulie DorneyBoyd YoungMentioned

Summary

Forensic psychiatrist Julie Dorney testified that Jones had schizo-affective disorder and gave criminal-responsibility opinions supporting the defense's insanity theory; the court required clarification about the limits of related testing evidence.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Day 31