Mr. BALL. Mr. Whaley, I have here an exhibit which I will mark 370.
(The document was marked Commission Exhibit No. 370 for identification.)
Mr. BALL. 370 is a photostat of a manifest of yours, and it is dated November 22, 1963. I mark this 370. Do you recognize that?
Mr. WHALEY. That is the original trip sheet.
Mr. BALL. In your handwriting?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; in my handwriting.
Mr. BALL. I will offer this into evidence at this time, and the original trip sheet as Exhibit No. 382.
Representative FORD. So admitted.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 370 and 382 were received in evidence.)
Mr. BALL. I have here a bracelet which is marked 383. Take a look at it and tell me if you have ever seen it before.
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; as near as I can tell that is the bracelet he was wearing the day I carried him, the shiny bracelet I was talking about.
Mr. BALL. You mentioned the fact that the man who sat in the front seat of your cab, which you drove from the Greyhound Station on Lamar Street over to 500 North Beckley, had an identification bracelet on him.
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, it looked like an identification bracelet. It looks like this one, sir, it was shiny, I couldn't tell exactly whether that was the bracelet or not.
Mr. BALL. But it looks like one of them?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; it looks like it.
Mr. BALL. Offer this in evidence.
Representative FORD. So admitted.
(Commission Exhibit No. 383 was withdrawn and a photograph of the bracelet was received as Commission Exhibit No. 383-A.)
Representative FORD. What hand or what arm did he have it on?
Mr. WHALEY. He had it on the arm next to me, which was the left arm.
Representative FORD. Was it protruding below the sleeve or jacket?
Mr. WHALEY. His coatsleeve was like this when he stretches his arm out it was short, that is when I saw it.
Representative FORD. Where was his hand when you saw it, if you can recollect it?
Mr. WHALEY. Well, just moving. You know you catch any bright object, why you notice it, that is how I noticed it. He was just moving his hand around. When the old lady stuck her head in the door and asked me to call her a cab. why he reached over to the door to open it like he told her she could have that one but she decided that she would wait for the next one because he already had that one. And that is when I saw it, sir. In the picture, I believe, I don't think he had it on in that picture in the paper the next morning.
Representative FORD. This is something you clearly noticed while he was riding in the car with you?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; I noticed it; yes, sir. I always notice watchbands, unusual watchbands, and identification bracelets like these, because I make them myself. I made this one.
Representative FORD. In other words, you have a particular interest in them?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, I particularly notice things like that.
Representative FORD. Did you notice anything unusual about it?
Mr. WHALEY. No, sir, it was just a common stretchband identification bracelet. A lot of them are made of chain links and not stretchbands. Stretchbands are unusual because there is very few of them.
Representative FORD. In other words, this was an unusual band?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; this one was a stretchband like the one you showed me.
Representative FORD. It is sort of a hobby with you to make these kinds of wristbands?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; I make watchbands like that.
Mr. BALL. Do you recall when you told, talked to the Dallas police officers that you told them that you had seen a heavy identification bracelet on this passenger's wrist?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir, I told them about the bracelet.
Mr. BALL. You told the FBI officers, also?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; but I don't remember saying it was heavy because I wouldn't have known how heavy it was without handling it.
Mr. BALL. You described the bracelet?
Mr. WHALEY. I just described the bracelet as a shiny bracelet.
Mr. BALL. A moment ago you told us about this man getting into your cab and an old lady coming up and asking for a cab.
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did the man sitting next to you open the door?
Mr. WHALEY. He just started to, sir, just reached for door handle and she said she wanted me to call one. She didn't want that.
Mr. BALL. Did the man who was sitting beside you in the cab say anything?
Mr. WHALEY. Only that she could have that one.
Mr. BALL. He said that?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. I think that is all.
Any other questions of this witness?
Did you describe the shirt that this man had on to the police?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir, I did.
Mr. BALL. What did you tell them?
Mr. WHALEY. To the best of my ability, I did, sir. I just told them it was a dark colored shirt with what looked like a silver lining.
Mr. BALL. Were you shown the shirt later?
Mr. WHALEY. About, it was at least a week later, sir, an FBI man brought the shirt over and showed it to me.
Mr. BALL. Is that the same shirt you saw here?
Mr. WHALEY. I think it is, sir. I am not positive but it had the same kind of silver streak in it.
Mr. BALL. What did you tell the FBI man who brought the shirt to you?
Mr. WHALEY. I told him to the best of my ability that was the shirt he had on.
Mr. BALL. Did the man riding with you say anything at all except tell you where he-wanted to go?
Mr. WHALEY. That is all, sir, except he said when we got to where he wanted to go he said, "This will do fine," when I pulled over.
Mr. BALL. Now, in the police lineup now, and this man was talking to the police and telling them he wanted a lawyer, and that they were trying to, you say he said they were trying to, frame him or something of that sort--
Mr. WHALEY. Well, the way he talked that they were doing him an injustice by putting him out there dressed different than these other men he was out there with.
Mr. BALL. Now, did anyone, any policeman, who was there, say anything to him?
Mr. WHALEY. Yes, sir; Detective Sergeant Leavelle, I believe it was, told him that they had, would get him his lawyers on the phone, that they didn't think they were doing him wrong by putting him out there dressed up.
Representative FORD. Did the man you identified have any reaction when they brought the group out, did he have any reaction that you noticed at the time you identified him?
Mr. WHALEY. Only that he was the only one that had the bruise on his head, sir. The only one who acted surly. In other words, I told this Commission this morning you wouldn't have had to have known who it was to have picked him out by the way he acted. But he was the man that I carried in my taxicab. I told them when I identified him. I didn't identify him as the man who shot the President. I identified him as the man who rode from the Greyhound to 1500 North Beckley with me.
Representative FORD. Did you point him out with your hand?
Mr. WHALEY. No, sir; I did not. They asked me which number he was standing under and he was standing under No. 2.
Representative FORD. Could he hear you make this identification?
Mr. WHALEY. No, sir; he couldn't see me.
Representative FORD. He couldn't see you?
Mr. WHALEY. No, sir; they had the black silk screen that keeps the prisoners from seeing the people who show up.
Mr. BALL. I have no further questions.
Senator COOPER. I have no questions.
Mr. BALL. Do you know a taxi driver named Darrell Click?
Mr. WHALEY. I may know his face, sir, but not his name.
Mr. BALL. You don't know his name?
Mr. WHALEY. We go mostly by numbers.
Mr. BALL. Okay, no further questions. The witness is excused.
Representative FORD. May we wait just a moment, please? Would you like to make a statement, Mr. Powell?
Mr. POWELL. Mr. Chairman, I think I might say just this: I am here representing Mr. Walter Craig, as I think the Commission understands. I have been here the last two days. In a conversation with Mr. Rankin yesterday morning we agreed that rather than my asking questions directly of witnesses, I would make suggestions to Mr. Ball or to one of his associates, and I have been following that practice yesterday and today, after consulting with Mr. Murray who is also here for Mr. Craig, and Mr. Ball and his associates have followed up these suggestions that we have made.
Representative FORD. The suggestions you have made have been transmitted to Mr. Ball or his associates and have been asked of the various witnesses?
Mr. POWELL. That is correct.
Representative FORD. Any other questions? Thank you very much, Mr. Whaley.
Mr. WHALEY. Thank you, sir. I am glad to be able to be of service.
(Whereupon, at 12:30 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)