Mr. EISENBERG. Yes?
Mr. LATONA. Which came from exhibit 648 has been identified as a
palmprint of Harvey Lee Oswald, the right palmprint.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is Lee Harvey Oswald, Mr. Latona?
Mr. LATONA. That is right. Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, Mr. Latona, can you tell how this was developed,
this print on 649?
Mr. LATONA. The appearance is it was developed with black powder.
Mr. EISENBERG. You testified before concerning the aging of
fingerprints. Considering the material on which this print was
developed, 649, do you think you could form an opinion, any opinion at
all, concerning the freshness or staleness of this print?
Mr. LATONA. Bearing in mind the fact that this is an absorbent
material, and realizing, of course, that a print when it is left on a
material of this type it starts to soak in. Now, the reason that we in
the FBI do not use powder is because of the fact that in a short period
of time the print will soak in so completely that there won't be any
moisture left.
Accordingly when you brush powder across there won't be anything
developed.
Under circumstances, bearing in mind that here the box was powdered,
and a print was developed with powder, the conclusion is that this is
comparatively a fresh print. Otherwise, it would not have developed.
We know, too, that we developed two other fingerprints on this by
chemicals. How long a time had elapsed since the time this print was
placed on there until the time that it would have soaked in so that the
resulting examination would have been negative I don't know, but that
could not have been too long.
Mr. EISENBERG. When you say "not too long," would you say not 3 weeks,
or not 3 days, or not 3 hours?
Mr. LATONA. Very definitely I'd say not 3 days. I'd say not 3 weeks.
Mr. EISENBERG. And not 3 days, either?
Mr. LATONA. No; I don't believe so, because I don't think that the
print on here that is touched on a piece of cardboard will stay on a
piece of cardboard for 3 days.
Mr. EISENBERG. Would you bring that any closer?
Mr. LATONA. I am afraid I couldn't come any closer.
Mr. EISENBERG. 3 days?
Mr. LATONA. That is right.
Mr. EISENBERG. That would be the outermost limit that you can testify
concerning?
Mr. LATONA. We have run some tests, and usually a minimum of 24 hours
on a material of this kind, depending upon how heavy the sweat was, to
try to say within a 24-hour period would be a guess on my part.
Mr. EISENBERG. I am not sure I understand your reference to a minimum
of 24 hours.
Mr. LATONA. We have conducted tests with various types of materials as
to how long it could be before we would not develop a latent print.
Mr. EISENBERG. Yes?
Mr. LATONA. Assuming that the same print was left on an object or a
series of similar prints were left on an object, and powdering them,
say, at intervals of every 4 hours or so, we would fail to develop a
latent print of that particular type on that particular surface, say,
within a 24-hour period.
Mr. EISENBERG. So that is a maximum of 24 hours?
Mr. LATONA. That is right.