The test will now begin.
(Reporter’s note: 4:10 p.m.)
Mr. HERNDON. “Is your first name Jack?”
Mr. RUBY. “Yes”.
Mr. HERNDON. “Is your last name Ruby?”
Mr. RUBY. “Yes”.
Mr. HERNDON. “Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Friday night?”
Mr. RUBY. “No”.
Mr. HERNDON. “Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Saturday morning?”
Mr. RUBY. “No”.
Mr. HERNDON. “Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Saturday night?”
Mr. Ruby. “No”.
Mr. HERNDON. “Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Sunday morning?”
Mr. RUBY. “Yes”.
Mr. HERNDON. “Have you answered all questions truthfully?”
Mr. RUBY. “Yes”.
Mr. HERNDON. The test is over. Will you sit still a moment. I will
release the pressure on your arms. You may now move your hands and get
the circulation back.
(Reporter’s note: 4:12 p.m.)
Mr. HERNDON. I have no questions on that.
Mr. Ruby came in here what time—originally?
COURT REPORTER. My notes indicate around 2 p.m.
Mr. HERNDON. How do you feel, Mr. Ruby?
Mr. RUBY. Fine.
Mr. HERNDON. You’re not tired?
Mr. RUBY. No.
Mr. HERNDON. Mr. Ruby, you are perfectly relaxed?
Mr. RUBY. Yes.
Mr. HERNDON. As long as Mr. Ruby feels fine, I think we can continue
and we can prepare the exact wording for the next series.
You may wish to bring the other gentlemen in.
Mr. SPECTER. All right, thank you.
Let the record show that Mr. Alexander and Mr. Tonahill have returned
to the room.
(Conference off the record between Messrs. Specter and Herndon
regarding formulation of questions.)
Mr. RUBY. Joe?
Mr. TONAHILL. Yes, Jack.
(Conference between Mr. Tonahill and Mr. Ruby from 4:13 to 4:15 p.m.,
out of the hearing of this reporter and others in the room.)
Mr. ALEXANDER. Jack, you are a good man.
Mr. RUBY. Who, Bill?
(Conference between Mr. Alexander and Mr. Ruby from 4:15 to 4:18 p.m.,
out of the hearing of this reporter and others in the room.)
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Holman, what time do you feed Mr. Ruby? What time do
you start the evening meal?
The JAILER. Well, we begin about 4:30 p.m.
Mr. HERNDON. Are you hungry. Mr. Ruby?
Mr. RUBY. No, I’m feeling fine.
Mr. SPECTER. Well, let’s go ahead with this series of questions and
then we will take about a 20-minute break.
(Conference between Mr. Alexander and Mr. Ruby from 4:22 to 4:25 p.m.,
out of the hearing of this reporter and others in the room.)
Mr. SPECTER. All right, we are ready to go on to the next series of
questions.
Mr. HERNDON. Do you feel all right, Mr. Ruby, at this time?
Mr. RUBY. Yes.
Mr. HERNDON. We will now go to the first question of this next series,
Mr. Ruby, and I will ask you these questions. I want to make sure you
have a clear understanding of what they mean.
“Were you in the Dallas Police Department jail basement at the time
Lieutenant Pierce’s car drove out of the basement?”
Now, I see you are hesitating on that—I can rephrase it if you so like?
Mr. RUBY. Oh, no.
Mr. HERNDON. Let me go over it again, to make sure the question will be
clear to you.
“Were you in the Dallas Police Department jail at the time Lieutenant
Pierce’s car drove out of the basement?”
Mr. RUBY. If I can explain it—if I can elaborate on it, it will be easy
to answer.
Mr. SPECTER. Go ahead now, if it’s all right with your counsel, so we
can focus in on what concerns you.
Mr. HERNDON. Perhaps I might want to ask that other question first and
he would find he might not have as much of a problem if I asked it
first.
Mr. SPECTER. Well, I prefer to stay with what we have now. I think we
can. If it’s all right to have him explain it, if it’s all right with
his attorney, I’d rather stay with that.
Mr. RUBY. I’ve already told it to the Warren Commission?
Mr. TONAHILL. Well, go ahead.
Mr. RUBY. As I left the Western Union, I walked toward the ramp, and as
I walked down, Lieutenant Pierce’s car was parked already on the curb,
partly on the curb and partly some of it was on the ramp, and some
officer was talking to him, so consequently—I don’t know how to answer
that—whether I was in the basement—when his car had driven out?
Mr. SPECTER. Did you walk by his car?
Mr. RUBY. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. At the same time it was parked there?
Mr. RUBY. Yes.