4.Travis Pressley — In-Camera Testimony (Part 1)
73 linesTRAVIS PRESSLEY, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Once you're seated, state your full name, spelling your last.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Travis Pressley, P-R-E-S-S-L-E-Y. IN-CAMERA DIRECT EXAMINATION
By Mr. Hubbard:
RICK HUBBARD: Lieutenant Pressley, where do you work?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Kirkland Correctional Institution and Department of Correction.
RICK HUBBARD: And how long have you been there?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: I've been with Kirkland for five years. I've been in the system for 20 years.
RICK HUBBARD: Do you recall back September 12th of 2014 a new inmate being received into your facility by the name of Tim Jones, Jr.?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: Were you there at Reception when he came in?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: What was your role?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: My role, I'm the -- was the head supervising lieutenant for that unit and my job was just to supervise and make sure everything is going correctly. And when we heard about inmate Timothy Jones coming in, we prepared for him and was waiting for him and was waiting for him in operation.
RICK HUBBARD: When he came in -- were you there when he actually first walked through that door?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir. We had some people bring him through the gate, bring him to the door and we was waiting for him.
RICK HUBBARD: What did you do when you received him in?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Well, we did our procedure. When they first come in, we explain to him where he's at. Then we start doing our procedure and shaking him down. The normal operation that we -- intake process when you start shaking them down, take them into the chair, getting a haircut. A normal operation.
RICK HUBBARD: While this was going on, was there a point when you brought him into the room and the door was shut?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: When he first walked in that door -- when the officer -- when we received him and when the officer had left, the door had slammed. And, I guess, reality kicked in for him and he started to get nervous and started shaking.
RICK HUBBARD: Did he cry?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: He cried.
RICK HUBBARD: What, if anything, did he say?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: He said a couple of comments about he's sorry for what he did. He was wrong for what he did. He apologized. He wished he could take it back.
RICK HUBBARD: Did you ask him at this point, hey, tell me what's going on and tell what you did?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No. We didn't ask that question.
RICK HUBBARD: As he was getting upset, what was your role?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: My role? Well, I'm a CIT certified trained instructor. We normally -- I'm normally trained to see the signs and symptoms of people and individuals. But at that particular point when he was explaining this stuff to me, I just listened.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. Now, CIT skills. Can you tell the Judge what that's about?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: It's Crisis Intervention Training Team. It's a class we use to where we train individuals -- well, they train -- well, I instruct individuals on how to de-escalate problems, situations and diffuse problems with an individual.
RICK HUBBARD: So if somebody is emotional, whether it's angry or upset or crying, you utilize these skills to calm them down?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Now, do you tell an inmate to just calm down or what's the process?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No. We use -- tell them to relax.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. And if they're talking, do you just let them talk?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: We just let them talk and listen.
RICK HUBBARD: Is that part of your training?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: It's part of the training.
RICK HUBBARD: All right. Now, when he said I'm sorry, what else was he saying?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: He was explaining about the incident or what occurred. You want me to say the incident?
RICK HUBBARD: Yes. And I'm going to pull this microphone just a little bit so when -- you can just sit comfortably and not have to worry about sticking your mouth on it.
RICK HUBBARD: And, Madam Court Reporter, if you can't hear, please let me know.
RICK HUBBARD: So, Lieutenant, if you could, just tell me, while you listened what did he say?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Well, he was explaining the situation of what happened. What I can recall is when, I think, one of his sons was messing with the socket, the electrical socket, and was doing something with it, I recall he got angry. Real angry at the son. And for my calculation is where he placed both arms around his son's neck and, I guess, he was continuing to choke his son. I think -- I recall that he said that his hands was too big, that he couldn't really get it good. So he used a belt and continued to use that to strangle his son, and one incident I think he said was his daughter --
RICK HUBBARD: Okay.
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: -- walked into the -- walked in to see what was going on. And he apparently grabbed her and started choking her until she turned purple. That was really what got me in the end.
RICK HUBBARD: Now, were you directed to write anything down he might say?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes. My supervisor informed us to write down an incident report, but we had too much stuff going on. So we only had to write what I could just remember at that time, because doing the job activity we work at, it's too much stuff to be going on.
RICK HUBBARD: I'm going to show you a copy and see if this is the report of what you wrote down. Does that talk about the older son messing with the socket and that he placed his hands around his neck?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: And that he admits to killing his son?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: Now, you didn't mention anything in there about the daughter. Can you tell me why you didn't go ahead and write all that in there, too?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Because doing it -- in the normal operations that we be doing, too much was going on and we was back and forth because we've got other job duties prior to, you know, dealing with Tim.
RICK HUBBARD: Did you have other inmates coming in?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: We had other inmates coming in we had to feed and they had to do showers and stuff, and there was only like five officers there at that time. So we was going back and forth.
RICK HUBBARD: Do you remember or recall him talking about any babies or anything, using a belt on a smaller child, or are you not sure if it was this one or --
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: I'm not sure if it was this one. I remember him saying about the belt.
RICK HUBBARD: You remember something about a belt being used. And when that belt was being used, whether it was this boy or another child, what did he say happened?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: When he took -- I think when he -- when he strangled the kid, one of the child with the belt, I remember he kept saying the daughter walked in. I don't know if it was the oldest daughter or which daughter it was.
RICK HUBBARD: He just said a daughter?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yeah, a daughter. And I remember he said that when he saw the daughter, she was shocked. I guess -- I don't know if she tried to run away or what, but he grabbed -- I know he said he grabbed her and choked her so hard to where she started turning purple.
RICK HUBBARD: And he killed her, too?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Did you, at any time, ask him anymore questions about this?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: Did you tell him he needed to talk to you?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: Did you interrogate him in any way?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: No, sir.
RICK HUBBARD: When he was done talking, did you all just complete his processing?
TRAVIS PRESSLEY: We just continued with the process.
RICK HUBBARD: Thank you.