Palm prints on the cardboard box: Similarly Oswald's palm prints were said to have been found on a cardboard box found at the window of the depository building from which Oswald allegedly shot Kennedy. Oswald's prints were not found anywhere else in the room except on a 'convenient' carton that could easily find its way to the police station where Oswald was kept in custody. (Lane,

Rifle Capability

Apart from these, not insignificant, inconsistencies in the "evidence" presented by the Dallas Attorney General, it is highly unlikely that Oswald, using the Carcano, could have shot with the accuracy and speed required at a moving target.

According to the Warren Commission that investigated Kennedy's assassination, three shots were fired from the Depository window, the first and last strikes occurring within a span of 4.8 to 5.6 seconds from a distance of 177 to 266 feet. The alleged murder weapon -- the Carcano Carbine -- has a bolt action re-loading mechanism that needs to be operated before every shot. The simulated the firing by getting sharpshooters rated as "master" by the National Rifle Association to test fire two series of 3 shots at three targets set up at distances of 175, 240, and 365 feet respectively. The men took 8.25, 6.75, and 4.60 seconds respectively for the first series and 7.00, 6.45, and 5.15 for the second. Out of the 12 tries, the expert shooters were able to match the rate at which Oswald shot just twice. Oswald was rated as a mediocre shooter according to his record in the Marines. How he could have out-fired "master"...

(Roffman, Chapter on "Oswald's Rifle Capability")
Hence more than enough doubt exists to indicate that Oswald may well have been found "not guilty" if he had lived to face a fair trial. Yet, he was condemned as guilty without a trial by the Dallas police, the FBI and the Warren Commission to avoid the possibility of uncovering the "messy" truth. Even without the evidence presented in this essay, an ACLU statement observed after Oswald's killing: "If Oswald had lived to stand trial and were convicted, the courts would very likely have reversed the conviction because of the prejudicial pretrial publicity."

Works Cited

Lane, Mark. "Oswald Innocent? A Lawyer's Brief." A Guardian Special. Nov. 22, 1963, December 7, 2004. http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/the_critics/lane/Natl-Guardian/Natl_Guardian.html

Roffman, Howard. "Presumed Guilty." Chapter 9 Oswald's Rifle Capability. A Book by a.S. Barnes and Co., Inc. 1976. http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/PG/PG.html#TOC

Oswald insisted that he was innocent and said he would prove it when he was brought to trial; he persisted in his denial despite the fact that he was questioned for 48 hours without the benefit of counsel; he even refused to admit to the killing as he lay dying

Even this 'fact' has not been proven beyond a shadow of doubt, but we will discuss the point later.

People who fire a rifle not only show evidence of gunpowder on their hands but also on their face through paraffin tests

Oswald