Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Of course, one would wonder why Oswald, who might have thought that
he had made his getaway while in the Texas Theatre unobserved, would
become so extremely agitated, when just a moment after he allegedly
shot the President and the Governor, with the policeman charging up the
stairs, pointing a pistol at him, about to arrest him for these two
terrible crimes, he was calm, according to Mr. Truly, but he became
agitated only when he thought he had secured his getaway.
I think those of us who saw, as we all did, I guess, Oswald on
television in his brief appearance would conclude that he seemed, even
while in custody and charged with these two crimes, somewhat calm under
the circumstances--calm when charged with the assassination, calm a
moment after killing the President, when a policeman pointed a pistol
at him, but agitated only in the theatre, and just before going to the
theatre when he might have concluded that he was then in the clear.
I would just like to conclude on this note.
I hope the Commission will give consideration to my request, which the
Commission has answered, but which again I would like at this time to
renew. That is, that I be permitted, at the request of Mrs. Oswald,
the mother of the accused defendant, really, before this Commission's
hearing, to represent his interests here, to have access to the
material which you have access to, and the right to present witnesses.
It is not usual for an attorney representing a party to be given an
opportunity to testify, which is quite unusual--but rather to be given
the opportunity to present witnesses and to cross-examine them. It has
generally been my role in criminal cases. Never before have I testified
in behalf of a client.
If it is the Commission's position that this is not a trial in any
respect, and therefore Oswald is not entitled to counsel, that is the
position with which I would like to respectfully offer a dissent.
The fact that Oswald is not going to have a real trial flows only from
his death, and he is not responsible with that having taken place.
Every right belonging to an American citizen charged with a crime was
taken from him up to and including his life.
I think now that that episode is completed, hopefully never to reappear
ever again in our history, or anything close to it--I think it would
be proper to permit him to have counsel before the Commission, counsel
who can function on his behalf in terms of cross-examining evidence and
presenting witnesses. If it is the Commission's position now that he is
entitled to counsel, and the Commission will appoint counsel, then I
ask the Commission to consider that the Constitutional right to counsel
involves the right to counsel of one's choice, or in the event of the
death of a party, to counsel of the choice of the surviving members of
the family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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