Mr. BARNES. Let me get your question to see if I am correct. If there
were nitrates present?
Mr. BELIN. Yes.
Mr. BARNES. In my own mind would I come to the conclusion that it would
probably come from a revolver? Rather than a rifle?
Mr. BELIN. Well, nonautomatic revolver, as opposed to a rifle. Which
would be more likely?
Mr. BARNES. The revolver would be more likely.
Mr. BELIN. Now you said that you took the paraffin casts off the hands.
Do you generally take it of both hands when you take a paraffin test?
Mr. BARNES. Yes; we do.
Mr. BELIN. When you take a usual paraffin test, do you take it of any
other part of the body other than the hands?
Mr. BARNES. No.
Mr. BELIN. In this case, did you take it of any other portion of the
body other than the hands?
Mr. BARNES. Yes; I did.
Mr. BELIN. What other portion of the body did you take it of?
Mr. BARNES. The right side of his cheek and face.
Mr. BELIN. The right side of Lee Harvey Oswald's cheek and face?
Mr. BARNES. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Who directed you to take it there?
Mr. BARNES. Captain Fritz.
Mr. BELIN. Did he particularly say why he wanted it taken there?
Mr. BARNES. I didn't ask the questions why he wanted it. I was ordered
to take it from him, and I took it because I had the order to take the
test.
Mr. BELIN. Was there an order to take the left cheek also, or not?
Mr. BARNES. No.
Mr. BELIN. How long did you say that you had been making paraffin tests?
Mr. BARNES. Since 1956.
Mr. BELIN. Roughly, how many of those do you do in a month on an
average?
Mr. BARNES. It would be hard to say. If I hit it lucky, I won't make
too many. If it hits on some other man's duty. It would be hard to say
how many I have made over a period of time. I can say that I have made
many.
Mr. BELIN. Over these years, do you think you have made as many as 100?
Mr. BARNES. It would be hard to say. I am not going to go into any
actual figures because it would be guesswork.
Mr. BELIN. Well, let me ask you this. Of the paraffin tests that you
have made, how many have you made of a cheek or cheeks?
Mr. BARNES. One.
Mr. BELIN. Was that with Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. BARNES. It was.
Mr. BELIN. Other than that, you have never made a paraffin test of
anyone's cheek?
Mr. BARNES. No.
Mr. BELIN. Any particular reason why you might not have in any other
case?
Mr. BARNES. It has never been requested of me before.
Mr. BELIN. Based on your knowledge and information about the science of
paraffin tests, do you know whether or not it is a common practice or
not a common practice to make it of one cheek?
Mr. BARNES. It is not a common practice.
Mr. BELIN. Any particular reason it is not a common practice, that you
can think of or know of?
Mr. BARNES. Firing a revolver, should he fire a revolver, I would say
the revolver most likely would be far enough away where powder residue
wouldn't reach his cheek?
Mr. BELIN. What about a rifle?
Mr. BARNES. Firing a rifle, you get your chamber enclosed with steel
metal around it, and the chances of powder residue would be very remote.
Mr. BELIN. Have you fired a bolt-action rifle at all before?
Mr. BARNES. Many times.
Mr. BELIN. How close would the chamber be to the cheek as you would be
looking through the sight of the gun.
Mr. BARNES. Be several inches to the rear of the chamber.
Mr. BELIN. Would this have any effect on the paraffin test at all?
Mr. BARNES. It sure would.
Mr. BELIN. What about telescopic sights? Would that push your face back
further or not?
Mr. BARNES. Push it even further back.
Mr. BELIN. Would this have an effect on the paraffin test?
Mr. BARNES. The further you get from the chamber, the less possibility
of getting powder residue on it would be.
Mr. BELIN. When you made the paraffin cast on the cheek, did you also
paint it on with this brush that you are talking about?
Mr. BARNES. I did.
Mr. BELIN. To about a quarter of an inch thickness?
Mr. BARNES. Not quite that much.
Mr. BELIN. When you put the gauze on?
Mr. BARNES. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. And you put some more paraffin on?
Mr. BARNES. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do? Did you cool it with water, or let it
naturally harden by room temperature?
Mr. BARNES. Nature cools it from room temperature.
Mr. BELIN. Then you removed it from the cheek?
Mr. BARNES. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Did you need a scissors when you removed it from the cheek?
Mr. BARNES. No.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do with these paraffin tests after you made
them?
Mr. BARNES. I placed them in a manila, large manila envelope separately.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BARNES. I walked out of Captain Fritz' office, and I had a couple
of patrolmen trying to weed their way through the news media so that
I could have walking room to get to the elevator to get back to the
fourth floor, the ID bureau.
Mr. BELIN. The news media had the third floor pretty well jammed at
that time?
Mr. BARNES. I would say it was pretty well jammed.
Mr. BELIN. About what time of the night was this?
Mr. BARNES. Approximately 9 o'clock, I would say, approximately.
Mr. BELIN. Did Lee Harvey Oswald say anything to you as you were
removing these casts, that you remember?
Mr. BARNES. Very little, other than what I repeated to you before, that
he knew what I was trying to do, and that I was wasting my time, that
he didn't know anything about what we were accusing him of.
Mr. BELIN. Did Lee Harvey Oswald leave Captain Fritz' office at that
time or did he stay there?
Mr. BARNES. I didn't go back, I couldn't tell you.
Mr. BELIN. He didn't come out with you, did he?
Mr. BARNES. No.
Mr. BELIN. Were any remarks of any kind made to you by any of the
people in the hallway, nonpolice officers, as you left the office?
Questions or remarks or what have you?
Mr. BARNES. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. What did they say?
Mr. BARNES. They kept storming questions at me, "What have you got in
that sack, what have you got in that sack, you owe it to the news media
to give it to us, what have you got in that sack?"
Mr. BELIN. Would this just come from one person?
Mr. BARNES. All of them.
Mr. BELIN. About how many of them were there at that time?
Mr. BARNES. They had the hallways blocked.
Mr. BELIN. Did you reply to them at all or not?
Mr. BARNES. I didn't answer.
Mr. BELIN. You then went up to the fourth floor to the lab, is that
correct?
Mr. BARNES. That is true.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do then?
Mr. BARNES. I initialed the cast, sealed them, and placed them in our
locked evidence room.
Mr. BELIN. Where did they go after that?
Mr. BARNES. They go to our city-county laboratory for analysis.
Mr. BELIN. Where is that city-county laboratory?
Mr. BARNES. At Parkland Hospital.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know when they went there?
Mr. BARNES. The following morning.
Mr. BELIN. Did you get the results from this analysis at all?
Mr. BARNES. The results were obtained by our bureau. I didn't get the
results.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know what these results were?
Mr. BARNES. I understand--I haven't seen them personally--but I
understand they are positive, the ones of his hands.
Mr. BELIN. By positive, you mean they showed the presence of nitrates?
Mr. BARNES. They showed the presence of nitrates.
Mr. BELIN. What about the one on the cheek?
Mr. BARNES. The one of his cheek was negative.
Mr. BELIN. Were any conclusions made because of either the positive
results from the test on his hands or the negative result on the test
of the cheek?
Mr. BARNES. In my own mind, I didn't expect any positive report from
the cheek to start with. But to cut down criticism and to satisfy the
public and to show the world that we tried to cover it very well,
we did it for possibly any future--I don't know how to word it--any
complaints that might come later on.