Mr. LATONA. The bag.
Mr. EISENBERG. A palm on the weapon?
Mr. LATONA. One on the gun and on this box.
Mr. EISENBERG. Four and two then?
Mr. LATONA. Three.
Mr. EISENBERG. There was a palm on each box?
Mr. LATONA. That is right.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is two palms?
Mr. LATONA. One off the gun.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is three palms, and the palm on the wrapping paper
bag. Here is the wrapping paper bag.
Mr. LATONA. One palm and one finger.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is four palms all together?
Mr. LATONA. Four palms, okay.
Mr. EISENBERG. Is that correct?
Mr. LATONA. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, is the proportion of recovered fingerprints here
an unusual one in your estimation? That is, we usually hear about
fingerprints rather than palmprints, whereas here we have four palm and
two finger prints. Is there anything unusual in this?
Mr. LATONA. Well, in that manner there is because--well no, I guess
not. It is just as logical to assume that a person will leave a
palmprint as a fingerprint. It depends upon primarily the way he
handles it. Objects of this type being so large you can probably expect
to get a palmprint.
Mr. DULLES. And what he is handling?
Mr. LATONA. That is right. On the other hand, if the object is small
there is probably no reason for the palm to touch it. For example, in a
rearview mirror; ordinarily on a rearview mirror of these stolen cars
we process you get mostly fingerprints.
On the other hand if you get back into the trunk, the chances of
something of a large nature, a stolen wheel, or something of that type,
you will get finger and palm prints. Cartons like this, where you have
to use both hands to pick it up because of its weight, the probability
is that you will get a palmprint as well as a fingerprint.
Mr. EISENBERG. Would the same thing be true of a heavy rifle?
Mr. LATONA. Sure, very definitely.
Mr. EISENBERG. And if the bag contained a heavy object inside?
Mr. LATONA. That is right, it would take more than just the finger area
of the hand to hold on to it.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Latona, did you prepare at my request a series
of photographs for transmission by me to the New York City Police
Department--photographs of finger and palm prints found on some of the
evidence we have been looking at?
Mr. LATONA. I furnished you photographs of all of the remaining
unidentified latent prints from these cartons.
Mr. EISENBERG. And also did you furnish me a photograph--just of the
remaining unidentified prints?
Mr. LATONA. No; including the ones which I identified.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you also furnish me with a photograph of the
two prints you identified--which parenthetically were the only two
identifiable prints--on the brown wrapping paper bag?
Mr. LATONA. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Which is Exhibit 142. And of the lift from the weapon
139?
Mr. LATONA. Yes; I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. And you also furnished me with photographs of the finger
and palmprints of Lee Harvey Oswald----
Mr. LATONA. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. As transmitted to you by the Dallas office of the FBI?
Mr. LATONA. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you identify these as the photographs you furnished
to me?
(Discussion off the record.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Have you identified the envelope marked "two photos Box
D"?
Mr. LATONA. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Chairman, may I have that admitted as 655?
Mr. DULLES. Yes.
(Commission Exhibit No. 655 was marked and received in evidence.)
Mr. DULLES. I think there ought to be some cross-identification inside
the envelope. Because obviously if you take that envelope and put
anything in it, we ought to have the others identified properly.
Mr. EISENBERG. There are two photographs within this. Let the record
show there are two photographs within this envelope, marked "7" and
"13," and I believe these are the only photographs so marked. Each
photograph is marked with an individual number, so these are the only
two photographs in the entire set marked "7" and "13."
Mr. DULLES. Excellent.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now I have an envelope marked "10 photos Box A." Have
you identified these photographs Mr. Latona?
Mr. LATONA. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. May I have these photographs admitted as group 656?
Mr. DULLES. It shall be.
(Commission Exhibit No. 656 was marked and received in evidence.)
Mr. DULLES. How many enclosures in that?
Mr. EISENBERG. There are 10 enclosures and numbered as follows: 25, 26,
27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35.
Mr. DULLES. There is no 33?
Mr. EISENBERG. No, sir.