The testimony of Charles Jack Price was taken at 4:50 p.m., on March
25, 1964, at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Arlen
Specter, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. SPECTER. May the record show that C. Jack Price is present to have
his deposition taken in connection with the inquiry of the President's
Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, which is
concerned with the medical care rendered at Parkland Memorial Hospital
to President John F. Kennedy and to Governor John B. Connally.
Authorization has been obtained to take the deposition of Mr. Price
and he has had access to the copy of the Executive order creating the
President's Commission----
Mr. PRICE. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And the rules relating to the taking of depositions of
witnesses. Is it satisfactory with you to have your deposition taken
without having the 3-day waiting period between the request and the
taking of the deposition?
Mr. PRICE. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you stand up, Mr. Price, and raise your right hand?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you give before the
President's Commission and in this deposition proceeding will be the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. PRICE. I do.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you state your full name for the record, please?
Mr. PRICE. Charles Jack Price.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is your official title here?
Mr. PRICE. Administrator, Dallas County Hospital district, comprised of
Parkland Memorial Hospital and Woodlawn Hospital.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Price, in connection with your duties at Parkland
Memorial Hospital, did you request that all of the individuals who
participated in the care and treatment of President Kennedy and
Governor Connally, or at least those who were principally concerned
with that treatment, prepare and submit reports to you concerning that
treatment?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; through Dr. Kemp Clark, who is chairman of our medical
records committee.
Mr. SPECTER. And where have those records been kept after submission
through Dr. Kemp Clark?
Mr. PRICE. The records were brought directly to my office. In fact,
some of the records were written in my office and since that time have
been kept in my custody, specifically under lock and key in my desk
drawer.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you a document which has heretofore been marked as
"Commission Exhibit No. 392," and I ask you if this constitutes all of
the records of the doctors who examined and treated President Kennedy
and Governor Connally which are in your possession, that is all the
records which were made by the examining doctors?
Mr. PRICE. (Examining instrument referred to.) Do you want my comments
as I go through this or do you want me to look through it and say
"Yes," or "No"?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes; I would like to just be sure for the record that
those are all of the records. You and I went through them the other day
informally and at that time you supplemented my records to some extent,
which I will put on the deposition record here.
Mr. PRICE. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Perhaps, before going to Commission Exhibit No. 392,
permit me to have this photostatic copy marked Mr. Price's Exhibit No.
2.
(Instrument referred to marked by the reporter as Price Exhibit No. 2,
for identification.)
Mr. SPECTER. And I ask you if this is a photostatic copy of a letter
which was sent by Dr. Kemp Clark to Dr. Burkley, the President's
private physician?
Mr. PRICE. It is.
Mr. SPECTER. And with that, the summary of all the treatments performed
at Parkland, which was prepared by Dr. Kemp Clark?
Mr. PRICE. That's right.
Mr. SPECTER. And below that, another summary sheet which bears the
corrected notation, with your signature over it, that the President
arrived at the emergency room at exactly 12:38 p.m., with 12:43
scratched out?
Mr. PRICE. That's correct.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, as you move through your file, permit me to also ask
the reporter to mark as Mr. Price's Exhibit No. 3, an affidavit of Ulah
McCoy, and I'll ask you if that is a copy of an original in your file?
(Instrument referred to marked by the reporter as Price Exhibit No. 3,
for identification.)
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. And I will ask her to mark as Mr. Price Exhibit No. 4
an affidavit of Doris Nelson and I'll ask you if that is a copy of a
report in your possession?
(Instrument referred to marked by the reporter as Price Exhibit No. 4,
for identification.)
Mr. PRICE. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Your next report is one from Dr. M. T. Jenkins?
Mr. PRICE. Professor and chairman of the department of anesthesiology.
Mr. SPECTER. And is that a copy of the document which you are looking
at here?
Mr. PRICE. It is.
Mr. SPECTER. As part of Exhibit 392?
Mr. PRICE. That's right, and my next one is the statement of Dr. W.
Kemp Clark.
Mr. SPECTER. And is that the original of a copy of which appears in
this group of papers as Exhibit No. 392?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is. The next one that I have is the statement of Dr.
Perry.
Mr. SPECTER. And is that the original of a copy of a statement which
appears in Exhibit 392?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; the statement of Dr. Charles W. Baxter.
Mr. SPECTER. Is that the original of a copy which appears in Exhibit
392?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is; that's the statement of Dr. Carrico.
Mr. SPECTER. And is this the copy of the original of Dr. Carrico's
statement?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is; and this is Dr. McClelland's statement.
Mr. SPECTER. I now show you a photostatic copy of what purports to be
Dr. McClelland's statement, and is that a copy of the original in your
file?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your next report?
Mr. PRICE. My next report is Dr. Bashour's report.
Mr. SPECTER. And I show you a sheet in the group of papers marked
Exhibit 392, and ask you if that is a photostatic copy of the original
in your file?
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is next?
Mr. PRICE. My next one is the summary of Dr. Ronald C. Jones.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, I'll ask you if this is a photostatic copy of the
original of the statement by Dr. Ronald Jones which is in your file?
Mr. PRICE. May I see it, please?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes.
(Handed instrument referred to to the witness.)
Mr. PRICE. Yes; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, does that constitute all of the original records
concerning the treatment of President John F. Kennedy in your file?
Mr. PRICE. With one exception--there is in the file that I have of
Governor Connally the original of the transcript of "Registration of
patients," which I furnished you a photostat of, our number being 01811.
Mr. SPECTER. And is this a photostatic copy of that registration of
patients?
Mr. PRICE. It is; and I think I reviewed it with you at the time I gave
this to you--the transverse of patients No. 2 and No. 5.
Mr. SPECTER. No. 5 is marked John Connally and No. 2 is John F.
Kennedy, and how should that have been marked?
Mr. PRICE. The first patient in the hospital was Governor Connally.
Mr. SPECTER. So, he should have been No. 2?
Mr. PRICE. So, he should have been No. 2 as shown on the transcript.
Mr. SPECTER. And the President should have been noted as No. 5?
Mr. PRICE. The President should have been noted as No. 5.
(Instrument referred to marked by the reporter as Price Exhibit No. 5,
for identification.)
Mr. PRICE. The simultaneous arrival at the ambulance dock would not
affect the time as shown in the corrected copy that I gave you of the
arrival there.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, turn if you will, to the records on Governor Connally
and I will ask you if as part of Commission Exhibit 392, we have
photostatic copies of the operative records starting, first with the
operation performed by Dr. Shaw.
Mr. PRICE. I have the original of that but this is the complete medical
charts that I have here.
Mr. SPECTER. As to this report alone, do you have the original in that
record?
Mr. PRICE. Here it is.
Mr. SPECTER. And is this an exact photocopy of the original report
prepared by Dr. Robert Shaw, the original of which appears in your
record on Governor Connally?
Mr. PRICE. It is.
Mr. SPECTER. Is this an exact photostatic copy of the report of Dr.
Charles Gregory?
Mr. PRICE. There has been since this photostat was made and forwarded
to you--Dr. Gregory, prior to signing the official copy, did make some
pencil corrections, and I will be glad to have the original photostated
or Xeroxed now and give you a corrected copy if you would like?
Mr. SPECTER. That would be fine, and perhaps it would be faster just to
read those changes into our record here. However, let's pursue the line
of getting a Xerox copy.
Now, turning to the report of Dr. Shires, is this a true and correct
photostatic copy of Dr. Shires' report?
Mr. PRICE. It is; it is a correct copy.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, I show you a large group of papers which I am going
to ask the reporter to mark Mr. Price Exhibits Nos. 6, 7, 8, and 9.
(Instruments referred to marked by the reporter as Price Exhibits Nos.
6, 7, 8, and 9, for identification.)
Mr. SPECTER. I now show you a group of papers, and as they are being
marked, if you would take a look at them. Price Exhibit No. 6--I'll
ask you if these are photostatic copies of reports which you have
made available to me of originals which you have in your file made by
various members of your staff, concerning the events of November 22,
and November 24.
Mr. PRICE. Do you want these individually or as a group?
Mr. SPECTER. If you would identify the contents of the statement by
the exhibit number which we have put on it, starting with the first
numerical designation, would probably be the simplest. Exhibit 6 is
what?
Mr. PRICE. Exhibit No. 6 is a Xerox copy of the floor plan of the
emergency area. This is correct.
The Exhibit No. 7, the statement is unsigned, but this is the Xerox
copy of the summary submitted to me by my assistant, Mr. Steve
Landregan.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is his position with the hospital?
Mr. PRICE. He is assistant administrator.
Mr. SPECTER. In charge of press relations among other things?
Mr. PRICE. In charge of press relations among other things.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is Exhibit No. 8?
Mr. PRICE. Exhibit No. 8 is a Xerox copy of Peter Geilich's statement
to me. Mr. Geilich is administrative assistant, with primary assignment
over at the Woodlawn unit, and he is also the acting director of our
outpatient clinic.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is Exhibit No. 9?
Mr. PRICE. Exhibit No. 9 is a summary of the activities of Robert
Dutton, Bob Dutton, who is administrative assistant and is currently
our evening administrator.
(Instruments marked as Price Exhibits Nos. 10 through 32 at this time,
for identification.)
Mr. SPECTER. Exhibit 10 is what?
Mr. PRICE. Exhibit 10 is a summary of activities of Mrs. Carol Reddick,
who is administrative aide.
Exhibit No. 11 is a summary of activities of Mrs. Elizabeth L. Wright,
our director of nursing service.
Mr. SPECTER. What is Exhibit No. 12?
Mr. PRICE. Exhibit No. 12 is a summary of the activities of Diana
Bowron, who is an emergency room nurse.
Mr. SPECTER. Exhibit No. 13?
Mr. PRICE. Exhibit No. 13 is a summary of the activities of Sallie
Lennon.
Mr. SPECTER. What is her position?
Mr. PRICE. She is a nurse.
Mr. SPECTER. I hand you Price Exhibit No. 14.
Mr. PRICE. This is a statement of the activities of C. Watkins, who is
an R.N. in the emergency room.