Mr. LATONA. Exhibit 632 is approximately a time and a half enlargement
of the latent palmprint which was developed on the brown wrapper.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is Exhibit 142.
Mr. LATONA. Exhibit 142--which is indicated by the red arrow A.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you prepare this chart, Mr. Latona?
Mr. LATONA. Not personally, no. This was made under my personal
direction and supervision.
Mr. EISENBERG. And is it an accurate reproduction of the known and
latent prints which were earlier introduced into evidence?
Mr. LATONA. It is. It is a true and faithful reproduction of these
areas, enlarged to approximately eight times the originals.
Mr. EISENBERG. May I have this introduced into evidence as 636, Mr.
Chairman?
Representative FORD. It will be introduced.
(The item referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 636 and
received in evidence.)
Mr. DULLES. May I ask whether this was discovered immediately after the
assassination--at what time did you discover this particular palmprint?
Mr. LATONA. It was on the 23d of November, the day after.
Mr. EISENBERG. Using this chart, 636, Mr. Latona, could you demonstrate
to us some of the points which led you to the conclusion that the
latent palmprint on 142 was the palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. LATONA. The procedure in making this comparison was exactly
the same as the procedure followed in connection with making the
prior examination of the fingerprint. Now, the area which shows
in approximately an eight-time enlargement, and is marked "Latent
Palmprint Developed on Brown Homemade Paper Container," which is
Exhibit 636, is roughly outlined on Commission Exhibit 631 in red,
which is a photograph of the inked right palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.
This area below the little finger, or what we referred to as the ulnar
portion of the palm--now, in making the examination or comparison,
here again--first of all I would like to point out that there is a
black line that goes right through--in an upward fashion--through the
enlargement of the latent fingerprint. That line is caused by virtue of
the fact that the palmprint which is developed is partially on a piece
of tape as well as the wrapper itself. In other words, a part of the
print is on a piece of tape and the other part is on the paper itself.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Latona, could you show how the palm lay on the paper
to produce that impression?
Mr. LATONA. The palm lay in this fashion here.
Mr. EISENBERG. You are putting your right hand on the paper so that the
fingers are pointing in the same direction as the arrow A?
Mr. LATONA. That's right.
Mr. EISENBERG. And it is at approximately right angles to the paper bag?
Mr. LATONA. That's right.
Here again, in making the comparison, a check is made for the location
of certain points.
Now, we notice here that the points appear to be much closer than they
were in the fingerprint, and that is probably because of the pressure
which was exercised, possibly in holding the object which was in this
paper container.
Now, you notice this point No. 1 here, which we term the ending ridge.
Point No. 2 is also an ending ridge. And you notice in between these
points there is a ridge. Point No. 2 is to the left of point No. 1.
Then we find there is a point No. 3 which is a point which is similar
in character to point No. 2 and is almost directly below, but there
are two intervening ridges. Then there is a point No. 4 which is below
point No. 3, and going in a direction opposite from point No. 3.
If we bear those four points in mind--and if the latent palmprint was
made by the same palm that made the inked palmprint--then we should
find these four points in that position over there.
Now, in order to first of all find the particular area where we
would look to see if those points exist, we would bear in mind the
general formation of the print itself. We notice the so-called looping
formation in the inked print. We see that there is a looping formation
here. Definitely it is not as pronounced in the latent print as it is
in the inked print. But to the experienced eye, it is right here.
Accordingly, bearing in mind where these points would occur, we would
generalize in the area to the extreme right of the enlargement, and
find that there is a point which is somewhat similar to the point which
appears in the inked impression, which momentarily we would say appears
to be the same point as No. 1.
Now, bearing in mind how No. 2 is related to point No. 1, does such a
point appear in the latent print? And making the check, exactly in the
same fashion and relationship that occurred in the inked print, we find
that there is such a point.
Does a third point appear in the same relationship to point No. 2 as it
appears in the inked print?
Counting down one, two, and then the three point being the point
itself. And in the same general flowing direction we count here, one,
two, three--there it is.
Bearing in mind again that we found point No. 4 is what we refer to as
a bifurcation going in the opposite direction from No. 3, which was
directly below and to the left, do we find such a point here? Sure
enough, there it is.
Now, an additional test would be this: At this point here we notice
there is an abrupt ending of a ridge at this point here. It was not
even charted. The fact is, it also occurs here. You see this point
here, through which there is no line drawn, here it is right here----
Mr. EISENBERG. You are pointing above 4?
Mr. LATONA. Directly above 4 to a ridge going--what we term flowing to
the right. Now, at this point here, to a fingerprint examiner of any
experience at all, he would start saying these prints were probably
made by the same fellow. To satisfy himself, he would continue to point
No. 5--one, two, three, four--there is point No. 5. Then there is No.
6, and there is No. 6 here, having exactly the same relationship to
each other.
On the basis of those six points alone, I would venture the opinion
that these palmprints were made by the same person. But for purposes
of carrying it out further, here is point No. 7. Point No. 7 is
obliterated to a certain degree to the inexperienced eye by virtue of
the fact that it almost coincides with that line there. You probably do
not see that.
And here is point No. 8, which is related to point No. 7 by the
separation of those ridges in the same way. One, two, three, four--one,
two, three, four. In its relationship to No. 9 here--just above and to
the left, flowing in the same general direction. Here it is here.
Then your point No. 10, which is tied into point No. 11 in this fashion
here, and 12 and 13. All of them have the same relationship insofar as
the intervention of ridges is concerned, the same general area, plus
the fact that they all flow in the same general direction.
Picking up No. 14, which is going upward, to point No. 15, which stands
out rather easily--15 here. To throw in just one point extra--see this
little point here, that ends here?
Mr. EISENBERG. That is to the upper right of 15?
Mr. LATONA. To the right and upward of 15.
Mr. DULLES. So you really have 16 points there?
Mr. LATONA. Actually, there are more than that in here, which I have
not even bothered to chart. The opinion here, without any question at
all, this latent print, which was developed on the brown bag marked
"A"--142--was made by the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald. And in my
opinion, this identification is absolute. There is no question at all
that only the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald made this print, or could
have made it.
Mr. EISENBERG. Are there any further questions on the prints appearing
on this bag?
Representative FORD. Mr. Murray?
Mr. MURRAY. May I suggest this, Mr. Chairman? Since the print on the
bag may become obliterated, and since members of the Commission have
already seen it, it might be advisable to put on the record that they
have seen it, because in time to come it may not be visible to anybody.
Representative FORD. Well, I for one would be willing to state that I
have personally seen that fingerprint through a glass on the bag--both
the finger and the palm.
Mr. DULLES. I would be glad to concur that I also have seen the
fingerprint and the palmprint to which Congressman Ford refers.
Mr. EISENBERG. In that general connection, Mr. Latona, do you commonly
make your fingerprint identifications on the basis of the object on
which the latent print appears, or on the basis of a photograph of that
object?
Mr. LATONA. Normally it is made on the basis of photographs. We work
more or less like an assembly-line basis, and we do not have the time
or the opportunity to work from the originals, as was done in this
case--this being quite an exceptional case. So the usual identification
would be made--this was made on the basis of the bag itself, rather
than to wait and get finished photographs from our photographic
laboratory.
If I recall correctly, this was on a Saturday--the 23d?
Mr. EISENBERG. Yes; it was.
Mr. LATONA. We did not have our full staff there. We were called in to
handle this case specially. There were no photographers available at
that time for that particular purpose. Frankly, under the circumstances
it would not have made any difference whether they were available
or not. This had a priority over everything we were working on and
naturally we had to proceed as fast as we could, in a sense, to render
conclusions and opinions at that time.
Accordingly, the original comparisons were made directly from the
wrapper, rather than a photograph, which was prepared subsequently to
this.
Representative FORD. The suggestion has been made, Mr. Murray, that
perhaps you would like to look at that palmprint and the fingerprint on
the wrapping, and you might make a statement the same as Mr. Dulles and
I have made.
Mr. EISENBERG. Could you point out to Mr. Murray, Mr. Latona, the two
prints?
Mr. LATONA. Yes, sir. "A" is the fingerprint.
Mr. DULLES. And the witness certifies that these are true photographs
of the fingerprint and the palmprint that you have exhibited?
Mr. LATONA. Yes, sir.
Mr. MURRAY. May I say for the record, Mr. Chairman, that I definitely
and clearly saw what appeared to me to be a palmprint in the part of
Exhibit 142 which was designated with a "B," and less clearly, but
nevertheless I did see, the fingerprint on the other portion of the bag.