Theran Ward, Justice of the Peace, Dallas County

[claviger]

(519) The record of inquest details that the formal inquest on John
Fitzgerald Kennedy was held on November 22, 1963, at 1 p.m., at Parkland
Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Tex., and that the date of death was November
22, 1963, at Parkland Hospital.(106) The "Nature of Information given
J.P." was "Death as a result of two gunshot wounds of head and neck."(107)
The document states that the information was provided by Dr. Malcolm
Perry, M.D., Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex.(108) It also
contains

Justice :

I, Theran Ward, justice of the peace, precinct No. 2, Dallas
County, Tex., after viewing the dead body of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and
hearing the evidence, find that he came to his death as a result of
multiple gunshot wounds of the head and neck. With this, my hand,
officially, this the loth [sic] day of November A.D. 1963, Theran Ward,
justice of the peace, precinct No. 2, Dallas County, Tex. (109)

(520) Thus, the Texas statute in effect at that time placed the
responsibility for determination of the cause of death with a layman, the
justice of the peace, who might consult the county health officer and
might order an autopsy by a qualified pathologist, if deemed necessary,
"to determine the cause of death." (110)

(521) Other than the official record of inquest, which states
specifically that Ward did, in fact, view the remains of President
Kennedy, there is no record of a formal inquest or other procedure to
gather evidence from the body within the territorial jurisdiction of
death. Nor does the record indicate whether Ward was consulted prior to
removal of the body from Dallas County, Tex, for which the President's
personal physician, Admiral Burkley, was responsible. If such was the
case, the authority to approve an autopsy subject to the wishes of the
next of kin in Bethesda was a legal order, and evidence obtained as a
result of that procedure undoubtedly would have been admissible in a
subsequent criminal procedure. If he was not consulted and chose to make
an issue of his responsibilities and their abrogation by authority other
than himself, and had criminal litigation ensued, a duly constituted court
in the State of Texas might have found legal problems to be associated
with the criminal proceeding.

(522) The record of inquest signed by Ward was dated November 10,
antedating the assassination of the President, by some 12 days. The panel
concludes that the document is in error and that the correct date of issue
most probably was December 10, some 18 days after assassination of the
President.

(523) The official certificate of death, signed by Ward on
December 6, 1963, records the "Findings by the Justice" as follows:

I, Theran Ward, a justice of the peace, in and for
Dallas County, Tex. after viewing the dead body of John Fitzgerald Kennedy
and hearing the evidence find that he came to his death as a result of two
gunshot wounds (1) near the center of the body and just above the right
shoulder, and (2) 1 inch to the right center of the back of the head.
Witness my hand, officially, this the sixth day of December A.D. 1963,
Theran Ward, justice of the peace, precinct No. 3, Dallas County, Tex.

On the same document is the official recording:

I, Theran Ward, a justice of the peace, in and for
Dallas County, Tex., do hereby certify that said inquest was held before
me, on the day mentioned, and the proceedings in said inquest, as
described above are correct. (s) Theran Ward, justice of the peace,
precinct No. 3. (111)


http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/1-HOLD/.Margot/hsca-vol/HSCA-V.07

[Anthony Marsh]

Thanks. I missed that the first five times you posted it. Can you please
post it another dozen times. You do know, I hope, that the more times
you repeat the same thing the more true it becomes. Harris taught us
that in his class.

[claviger]

You must have me confused for someone else. Wouldn't be the first time.
I never knew there was another death certificate until this past week when
I came across it inadvertently. You need to stop sending messages during
cocktail hour.

[Anthony Marsh]

You can't hack my system well enough to know when I post.