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Robert F Kennedy Assassination — Part 2
Page 42
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In his 1969 trial testimony, Wolfer had stated that no two
barrels would ever impart the same impression or striation on the
projectiles as they, the bullets, passed through them. This was
because of the different rifling specifications within the barrel.
Wolfer told Kranz any potential tampering or mishandling of the gun
barrel could result in an inconclusive finding after additional
test bullets had been fired from the weapon. It was Wolfer's
opinion that the projected ballistics re-examination and test
firing was a sham orchestrated only to create and to confuse the
issue that the bullets did not match. Wolfer's concern, and that
shared by several persons within the District Attorney's Office,
was that the purpose of petitioners' claim for potential test
firing (always the demand of the critics had been for a test firing
of the weapon) was for the test firing to obtain inconclusive
-results due to the lack of striations and identification marks on
the newly fired test bullets. This would also make it impossible to
match the newly test fired bullets with the original evidence
bullets due to the passage of time. Additionally, Wolfer expressed
his reservations about any cleaning of the barrel prior to firing
because of the possibility that a cleaning might also affect the
particular striations, or lack of striations, in the gun barrel.
Special Counsel Kranz was of the opinion that the criminalist had
legitimate concern about the proposed test firing of the weapon,
but due to the several mistakes and inconsistencies in the past,
and the recently admitted destruction of ceiling panels and x-ray
analysis documents, any attempt to hait the test firing, parti-
Cularly in light of the District Attorney joining in the motion at
the August 14, 1975, Hearing, would have resulted in a justifiable
accusation of “cover-up."
Cross Examination of Wolfer
The cross examination of DeWayne Wolfer by all counsel prior
to ballistic tests and examination by the panel experts was
lengthy. But several questions remained tnanswered. Who else
besides criminalist Wolfer had looked at the ceiling panel holes
and examined the ceiling panels themselves? Furthermore, who had
Participated in the x-rays and analysis of the ceiling panels and
wood samplings?
Additionally, Wolfer could not recall if he had made the tests
and measurements concerning micromeasurements, spectrographic, and
cannelure examinations. Moreover, Wolfer could not recall whether
he had weighed the particular bullets. There were no records to
indicate that this process had been done.
Wolfer's log was not complete in specifying the time sequence
when he received all of the particular evidence bullets, parti-
Cularly the Weisel and Goldstein bullets which Wolfer felt were,
@long with the Kennedy neck bullet, People's 47, the only well
defined bullets. On cross examination, Attorney Godfrey Isaac
pointed out that Wolfer could not properly identify in his log
sheet the items to which he referred on June 13, 1968. Wolfer felt
that there was a possibility that due to different L.A.P.D.
Property identification number systems in the various divisions,
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