◆ SpookStack

{ or VJ "Because the exhibits, under the custody of the County Clerk's Office, were handled, examined and photographed uy unauthorized persons and mishandled by the County Clerk exhibit personnel, there exists a reservation on the part of the-1971 Los Angeles County Grand Jury relating to the present integrity of the ballistics exhibits which were introduced into evidence both during the Grand Jury presentation on June 7, 1968, and during the sub- sequent trial of the defendant Sirhan B. Sirhan. Since this -evidence is presently out of the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County, (the evidence at that time being within the jurisdiction of the California Supreme Court in San Francisco), we are unable to substantiate these reservations." The District Attorney's Office made an extensive investi- gation into the handling of the exhibits and the Busch report stated that the investigation raised serious questions concerning the present integrity of the exhibits due to the handling of the evidence by unauthorized person while the evidence had been in the eustody of the Los Angeles County Clerk. Charach - Harper Investigation In July 1970, Investigator Ted Charach had given his theory of a potential second gun and the firing of such by security guard Thane Ceasar to Grant Cooper, chief defense counsel in Sirhan's trial. Cooper referred Charach to ballistics expert William Harper, whom Cooper had known professionally for many years, and whom Cooper had recently learned had begun his own research into the ballistics findings in the Kennedy case. Harper had begun his work after reading "Special Unit Senator" by former L.A.P.D. Chief of Dectectives Robert hougnten. Harper had been puzzled due to an apparent inconsistency over a slug too large to have come from Sirhan's small revolver. In the first of what was to become many 1970 visits to the criminal exhibits section of the County Clerk's Office, Harper found that the large slug was a nearly flattened .22 tullet. And after many months of testing, weighing, photo-micrograoching with a Balliscan camera, as well as studing Coroner Noguchi's massive autopsy report on Senator Kennedy, Harper developed these essential criticisms of Wolfer's work. a. At least two of the bullets removed from the pantry, one from Kennedy's body (Exhibit 47), and the other from wounded ABC newsman William Weisel (Exhibit 54), did not match each other and thus could not have deen fired from the same gun. b. Wolfer stated at trial that bullets fired from the same gun will have matching individual characteristics, while bullets from two guns of the same make will match only in class charac- teristics. The absence on the two bullets of any “phase marks” - usually the investigators initials - to serve as guideposts in lining up the points where bullets matched, indicated to Harper that Wolfer matched the bullets down to class characteristics but not as far as individual characteristics. Ce There was a difference of 14% in the rifling angles of the two bullets - again pointing to a conclusion that they came from. different guns. - 21-