Perry Russo testified in the three-day hearing held by Judge Herbert Christenberry in January 1971 that was held to determine if Clay Shaw should be tried for perjury.Here is his testimony:Russo pleaded the fifth and refused to say if Clay Shaw was in David Ferrie s apartment in September of 1963.
In the lawsuit to stop Garrison s perjury charges, Judge Herbert Christenberry held three days of hearings in January of 1971. Jim Garrison, still the District Attorney, was forced to take the stand and was examined by Clay Shaw s attorneys - Edward Wegmann and Irvin Dymond. John Volz and William Alford were the lawyers for Garrison.
Here are some of the highlights of Garrison s testimony:
Right off the bat, Garrison is confused about how many times he asked Clay Shaw in for an interview. Shaw came in late December 1966, and then on March 1st when he was arrested). He s not even sure why he was a suspect.
In March 1967, a lab technician came forward to say that he met Clay Shaw at Berkeley on the day before the JFK assassination, or on the day of the assassination. Here is the first report from Garrison investigator William Turner:
Turner then issued a second memo:
Researcher Paul Hoch, who worked at Berkeley, did some of his own investigating and wrote this memo:
Hoch sensibly concluded that this was most likely a case of mistaken identity.
That might have been the end of the story, butt Breitner called Turner in September 1967 with additional information. Now, he remembered that Shaw introduced himself as Clay Bertram.