The testimony of Philip Geraci III, accompanied by his mother, was
taken on April 7-8, 1964, at the Old Civil Courts Building, Royal and
Conti Streets, New Orleans, La., by Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler, assistant
counsel of the President's Commission.
(Reporter's Note: The witness, Philip Geraci, was accompanied into the
hearing room by his mother.)
Philip Geraci, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified
as follows:
Mr. LIEBELER. My name is Wesley J. Liebeler. I am a member of the legal
staff of the President's Commission investigating the assassination
of President Kennedy. Staff members have been authorized to take the
testimony of witnesses by the Commission pursuant to authority granted
to the Commission by Executive Order No. 11130, dated November 29,
1963, and joint resolution of Congress No. 137.
I understand that Mr. Lee Rankin wrote you a letter last week in which
he told you that I would contact you, did he not?
Mr. GERACI. A letter? No.
Mr. LIEBELER. You did not receive a letter from Mr. Rankin?
Mrs. GERACI. Would you please give us one. We would like to have it to
keep.
Mr. GERACI. Somebody said they sent one.
Mr. LIEBELER. You didn't receive it?
Mr. GERACI. No.
Mrs. GERACI. We did not receive it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now I think in point of fact that is right. I think that
the decision to take your testimony was made subsequent to the time
that the letters were sent out to other witnesses. Now you are----
Mrs. GERACI. May I make a statement before we go any further?
Mr. LIEBELER. Let the record indicate that Mrs. Geraci is in the
hearing room at her request to assist her son and give moral support.
Mrs. GERACI. And we want no publicity at all, please.
Mr. LIEBELER. We have already given to the reporters the names of some
of the witnesses who came in, but we have already been advised that
you did not want any publicity at this point, and we did not give your
name to the newspaper reporter or make any statement about Philip's
appearance here.
Mr. GERACI. Does that mean I can't tell anyone about it?
Mr. LIEBELER. That is something you can settle among yourselves.
Mr. GERACI. I told everybody I went to a doctor's appointment this
evening.
Mr. LIEBELER. [Handing documents to witness] Now I want to give you a
copy of the Joint Resolution of Congress and of the Executive order
that I have just referred to, and also of the Rules of Practice adopted
by the Commission concerning the taking of testimony of witnesses.
Those rules provide that technically you are entitled to 3 days' notice
before you appear to have your testimony taken, but you are entitled to
waive that notice, and I assume that, since you are here, you would be
willing to waive it with regard to the testimony. Is that right, Philip?
Mr. GERACI. I don't know.
Mrs. GERACI. Yes. Well, they did not notify us 3 days ahead of time,
but that is all right. We are here. They called yesterday.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have indicated that you are willing to go ahead with
the testimony instead of waiting for the 3 days' notice?
(Mrs. Geraci nodded assent.)
Mr. LIEBELER. Philip, would you state your full name for the record,
please?
Mr. GERACI. Philip Geraci, the Third.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is your address?
Mr. GERACI. 2201 Green Acres Road.
Mr. LIEBELER. New Orleans?
Mr. GERACI. Metairie.
Mr. LIEBELER. When were you born?
Mr. GERACI. February 21, 1948.
Mr. LIEBELER. So you are now about 16 years old or 17 years old?
Mr. GERACI. Yes. Well, I am 16.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you go to school?
Mr. GERACI. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Where?
Mr. GERACI. East Jefferson High School.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you are--what?--a junior there now, or a senior?
Mr. GERACI. No, sophomore, 10th grade.
Mr. LIEBELER. 10th grade. Do you know a man by the name of Carlos
Bringuier?
Mr. GERACI. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you first meet him?
Mr. GERACI. Well, this was summer, last summer, some place around the
beginning of it, and--you want me to tell you everything about it?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. GERACI. Well, I was down there with a friend. [Addressing mother.]
Do you think I should give his name?
(Mrs. Geraci nodded assent.)
Mr. LIEBELER. Please do. You were down where?
Mr. GERACI. Down there in New Orleans, I mean on Canal Street. We had
to go to some radio shop. It was Bill Dwyer. That is a friend. And we
were down there and we wanted to go in radio shops and everything, so I
saw--going down there I saw, looking to the side, that they had a sign
saying "Casa Roca," and I took Spanish in school, so I was interested,
and I went in there and--well, he was a little reluctant, but we went
anyway.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your friend was a little reluctant?
Mr. GERACI. Yes, a little bit. He didn't get mixed up in this or
anything. And then, well, when we were in there, we looked around a
little at everything, then I asked the man there--I didn't know it was
Carlos Bringuier then--I asked him was he a Cuban. He said yes, he
was an exile, and everything, you know. I asked him a few things, I
guess--I don't know exactly what--you know, just a little conversation
like. Then I ask him was there anything that I as an American could do.
He said, well, he didn't know, to come back later. You know, he acted
as though maybe--like--just like he just didn't want me to help or
something like that, I guess, so we left and went home, and that was it.
Mr. LIEBELER. And when did you see him again, if you did? You did see
him again, didn't you?
Mr. GERACI. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. When?
Mr. GERACI. I don't remember when. I remember I saw him a few times, I
couldn't exactly say how many, but I went back another time when I was
in town, I stopped off and saw him, and I saw him another time. Then
I think it was about the fourth time that I was there that I saw Lee
Harvey Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now before we get to that, did you ever raise any money
for Carlos' activities?
Mr. GERACI. Not until the third time.
Mr. LIEBELER. What happened?
Mr. GERACI. No; wait. Come to think of it, I think it was about the
fifth time that I saw Oswald; something like that. I remember I went
back--it was about the third time--after asking him--I asked him, "Do
you think it is possible to raise donations?" And he said, "Well, yes;
it is possible." And he showed me these little yellow slips, sort of
like yellow, and they were like receipts if you paid, and he said I
could get them--you know--if I wanted to, I could, you know, go, and
he could give them to me, and go and get donations and give the people
this receipt and bring the money back to him.
Mr. LIEBELER. So did you take some of the receipts?
Mr. GERACI. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. And did you get some money?
Mr. GERACI. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you gave it to Carlos?
Mr. GERACI. Yes; it was about $10.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you turned that money over to him?
Mr. GERACI. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, is it correct that on the day that you came into the
Casa Roca to give this money to Carlos that you met Lee Oswald?
Mr. GERACI. I don't know if I turned in the money or not. No; I don't
think I turned in money, but I couldn't be sure. I remember I went
there, and that is the time the last guy, Vance Blalock, came along
with me. It was his first time and everything. And we went in there--I
might have turned it in, I am not too sure. Maybe I did; maybe I
didn't. I can't remember too much, but I was in there anyway talking to
him and that is when I met him.
Mr. LIEBELER. That is when you met Oswald?
Mr. GERACI. Yes; you want me to tell all that?