Travis Pressley

Correctional Lieutenant Travis Pressley testified on Day 16 about Timothy Ray Jones, Jr.'s September 2014 intake at Kirkland Correctional Institution. In an in-camera examination and later before the jury, Pressley said Jones became nervous, shook, cried, and began speaking after entering the facility. He recounted statements he attributed to Jones concerning the deaths of Jones's children, while qualifying parts of his recollection.

The defense challenged whether the intake interaction had elicited those statements. It argued that Pressley had asked what happened while Jones was in custody and had not received Miranda warnings. The court ruled that the exchange was an intake interaction rather than an interview, found Jones's continued speaking voluntary under the circumstances, and permitted the State to use the statements.

On cross-examination, the defense compared Pressley's testimony with his incident report, which did not include all of the details he described at trial. Pressley said the report reflected what he could remember while other intake duties were underway. He agreed initially that certain earlier medical appointments would be impossible if the incident occurred at the time he gave, then said Jones may have had medical contact before reaching the maximum-security unit. Defense Exhibit 126, Pressley's statement, was admitted without objection.