5.Travis Pressley — Cross (Part 2)
90 linesCROSS-EXAMINATION By Mr. Young:
MR. YOUNG: Good morning, Lieutenant Pressley.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Good morning.
MR. YOUNG: You've testified you've had 20 years of training and experience in the Corrections Department in South Carolina?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: Five of those years were at Kirkland. Where's that?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Wateree.
MR. YOUNG: Is Wateree the a medium security facility?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: Now, at Kirkland, you were working at the maximum security unit at Kirkland, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: That's like a prison inside of a prison?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: And Mr. Jones was taken straight to the maximum security unit at Kirkland. He didn't go to the normal upfront intake, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No, sir.
MR. YOUNG: And that's pretty unusual, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes.
MR. YOUNG: Because usually people who get sent to the maximum security unit are just people who have gotten in trouble somewhere else in the prison system, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: That's why they get sent to the max -- at the time it was called the maximum security unit. Is that right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: It would be South Carolina's version of Supermax?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: That would be for people who weren't -- who continued to get in trouble in restricted housing units at other facilities?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: The intake process at SCDC, you routinely ask people what happened -- what happened to you to get here, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: Now, I think your testimony was that he told -- he was in crisis, right? When I say crisis, I mean, you were applying your crisis intervention training, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: That means he was upset?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: He didn't get upset until the door closed and, I guess, that's when reality kicked in to where he understand what he probably did or he just was emotional then and starts just talking.
MR. YOUNG: You knew -- you didn't know that he had been in custody since September the 6th, for almost a week?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Did I know?
MR. YOUNG: Yeah.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yeah. Yes, sir. I knew.
MR. YOUNG: You knew he had been in custody in Mississippi?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: I mean, I didn't know where he was or anything. They don't tell us anything.
MR. YOUNG: Sure.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: All it is, is when we get the word that he's coming, you don't know anything.
MR. YOUNG: And he was coming from the Lexington County Detention Center --
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yeah.
MR. YOUNG: -- at that time?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: And he had been there for a night, right? You don't --
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: I can't recall.
MR. YOUNG: This incident happened at 2:20 p.m. Is that right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: If I'm not mistaken. Yes, sir. Okay. Approximately 2:20.
MR. YOUNG: So a little bit after lunch?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: And there were other officers present during this interaction?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
MR. YOUNG: And your testimony was that there were five other officers in the unit, right?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes.
MR. YOUNG: How many of them were present for this interaction?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: About three. It was me, Officer Boyd and my other sergeant.
MR. YOUNG: Officer Hawkins?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Well, he's a sergeant.
MR. YOUNG: Officer Stroman?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: They wasn't present.
MR. YOUNG: So if Officer Stroman gave a statement about this incident, he wasn't present.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: I can't recall if -- he wasn't present in the area when I was there, but we all kind of switch up. But they wasn't present.
MR. YOUNG: I'm sorry. I thought this all happened in a room with the door closed.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: In the sally port area when they first come in. Right.
MR. YOUNG: The sally port at MSU?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: It's a sally port. It would be bring the intake when we do the strip search and everything. It's only three people. The other two officers was doing other activities, like feeding or doing whatever, or doing the security checks, while just me and two other officers was there present with him.
MR. YOUNG: So if four people wrote statements about hearing this, then one of them is not telling the truth?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: I can't recall because each of us switch off a little bit. So I don't know what their interaction was.
MR. YOUNG: Okay. So it could have been four officers there with you?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No, it was three.
MR. YOUNG: You and three other officers?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No. Me and two other officers.
MR. YOUNG: Okay. So it couldn't have been four?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: It was me, Officer Boyd and Sergeant Hawkins at that time.
MR. YOUNG: And Officer Stroman wasn't there?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: If Officer Stroman -- if Officer Stroman came through, that probably was after or whatever.
MR. YOUNG: All right. Beg The Court's indulgence. That's all the questions I have at this time.
THE COURT: Anything else?
MR. HUBBARD: Nothing at this time, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. You can step down.
(Whereupon, the witness stepped down from the witness stand)
MR. HUBBARD: I'd ask the Court to find that the statements are voluntary and that --
MR. YOUNG: We have a witness.
THE COURT: Okay. Is there a witness?
MR. MADSEN: Your Honor, the Defendant would call.
MR. HUBBARD: And if Lieutenant Pressley would stay with us for a while --
THE COURT: Sure.
MR. MADSEN: -- in case he needs to be recalled.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. MADSEN: We call Officer Benjamin Boyd.