Mr. RANKIN. But in interpretation you ordinarily follow a practice
of----
Mr. CURRY. During the normal course of the court's business. This was
actually unusual because this type of arraignment--because usually it
would have been later than this, but we were trying to take whatever
precautions we could to see that he was given his--we were not
violating his civil rights. That is the reason that we did arraign him
in the city hall. Ordinarily we would have taken him before a court.
Mr. RANKIN. I didn't understand you to say that the justice of the
peace told him he had a right to counsel or said anything about that.
Mr. CURRY. I don't recall whether he did or whether he did not. He read
all this to him.
Mr. RANKIN. That is, he read the complaint to him?
Mr. CURRY. The complaint, and I don't recall what all he said to him.
Mr. RANKIN. So, according to the practice in Texas at the time that
he was taken for arraignment would have been the usual practice or a
little earlier?
Mr. CURRY. A little earlier, actually.
Mr. McCLOY. Were you present at any investigation or interrogation of
Ruby?
Mr. CURRY. No, sir; I was not.
Mr. McCLOY. Did you hear any further elaboration of this charge that
Oswald made that Hosty had mistreated his wife; what was the nature of
the mistreatment?
Mr. CURRY. I was not present when this happened. This was told to me, I
think Captain Fritz told me this, and he seemed to gather that he had
more or less sort of browbeat her in interrogating her is what Fritz,
the impression that Fritz got.
Mr. McCLOY. When was that? Do you have any reason to know--Captain
Fritz will perhaps tell us about it--as to when that interrogation of
Hosty and Mrs. Oswald took place?
Mr. CURRY. No, sir.
Mr. McCLOY. You don't take normally any tape recordings of witnesses'
examinations?
Mr. CURRY. No, sir.
Mr. McCLOY. I guess that is all, except the general question I have
of Chief Curry. Do you know anything else with respect to this whole
matter that you think would be of any help to this Commission in
getting at the facts?
Mr. CURRY. Not that I know of, except to say we were extremely sorry
that, of course, this thing happened in Dallas. We thought we were
taking every normal precaution that we could take to insure the safety
of the President in cooperating with the Secret Service and all other
agencies and we felt like we had done a good job.
After the assassination and the murder of our officer, that our
officers had done a good job in making a quick apprehension of the
alleged person guilty of this, and that we will have to admit that
although we thought that adequate precautions had been taken for the
transfer of this prisoner, that one of our officers momentarily stepped
away from his post of duty, and that during this moment of negligence
on his part, as far as we could determine Ruby went down the ramp, the
Main Street ramp, and concealed himself behind some news media and
detectives and as Oswald was brought out he stepped forward and shot
him.
And if we had it to do over again, and I think this, that some policy
should be set up for the news media, whereby if anything of this
magnitude ever occurs again, that we would not be plagued by the
confusion present that was present at that time, and that the news
media should accept some of the responsibility for these things and
agree among themselves to have representatives that can report back to
them.
Mr. RANKIN. Chief Curry, I am not quite clear about the situation with
regard to your practices in the police force, and the news media.
I understand what happened, as you described it at the time of the
episodes that we have been going into, and I understand that you would,
if there was a matter of this magnitude again--you would expect and
want a very different change?
Mr. CURRY. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. And eliminate the interference by the news media?
Mr. CURRY. That is right.
Mr. RANKIN. But what do you do now about the ordinary case? Have you
changed your practices about the media at all?
Mr. CURRY. Not the ordinary cases; no.
Mr. RANKIN. And do they use the radio and TV in the police headquarters?
Mr. CURRY. Yes, sir; they do.
Mr. RANKIN. And they, the reporters, come in, and it is just the
difference between a great many?
Mr. CURRY. And a few is what made the difference in this.
Mr. McCLOY. Do you permit reporters now to come in and interrogate
prisoners as they did in this case by holding a microphone up to their
mouth and saying, "How did you do it?"
Mr. CURRY. They do the same as they do here; on the way from the
interrogation room to the jail elevator as they pass by they might run
along and ask him questions and try to get him to answer.
Mr. RANKIN. That could be done today just the same?
Mr. CURRY. Yes, sir. Because we have no way of keeping them out of the
public halls.
Mr. RANKIN. Don't you have jurisdiction as chief of police to exclude
them if you thought it was the wise thing to do?
Mr. CURRY. Yes. Now if I had it to do over again, of course, I would
exclude it.
Mr. RANKIN. And you could do it today in the ordinary case if you
wanted to?
Mr. CURRY. I would probably have my hide taken off by the news media,
but I could do it.
Mr. RANKIN. So, it is really a problem of weighing what the media will
do to you against other considerations?
Mr. CURRY. And this, too; it seemed like there was a great demand by
the general public to know what was going on.
Mr. RANKIN. Yes. And that is what you were trying to satisfy?
Mr. CURRY. That is what I was trying to do.
Mr. RANKIN. Those are all the questions.
Mr. McCLOY. I don't think I have anything else.
Mr. RANKIN. Thank you very much, Chief, for all of your help.
Mr. CURRY. Thank you for your consideration.
Mr. RANKIN. I want to offer the Exhibits 701 through 708, both
inclusive.
Mr. McCLOY. They may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 701 through 708 were received in evidence.)