JFK Page #50

It doesn't play with the press. They shuffle off, quiet,

whispering.

GARRISON'S HOUSE(1967)

Liz and Jim watch, silently devastated, as the NBC "WHITE

PAPER" unfolds, attacking Jim. They can do nothing. Liz

leaves the room, upset.

HOTEL SUITE - NEW ORLEANS(1967)

Julia Ann Mercer, 28, looks at Jim with sincere eyes. Her

husband, a prosperous Republican businessman, watches from

the corner. Jim - along with Al - has her testimony in front

of him.

JIM:

In the sheriff's report, Mrs. Mercer,

it says you were at Dealey Plaza two

hours before the assassination but

that...

MERCER:

Yes, it was about 11 in the morning.

I was driving west on Elm Street

toward the Triple Underpass, in a

rented car - a blue Valiant. I'll

never forget that day.

FLASHBACK TO Dealey Plaza in 1963. It's a normal scene -

cars, traffic, people starting to arrive for Kennedy's

appearance. We catch a glimpse of Julia Ann Mercer, 23,

driving, then stopping traffic.

MERCER:

...there was quite a bit of traffic

and I was stopped alongside a green

pickup truck. It was very noticeable

because it was blocking traffic and

it was parked with two wheels on the

curb. When I saw the gun, I thought -

the Secret Service is not very secret.

She glances over at the man in the driver's seat. It's Jack

Ruby, wearing a green jacket. Then she sees a young white

man in his mid - 20's, in a gray jacket, brown pants, plaid

shirt and wool stocking hat, getting out of the passenger

side, going to the rear of the van, opening a tool compartment

and removing a package that looks like a rifle wrapped in

paper. He walks up the embankment in the direction of the

picket fence. Ruby looks over and stares at Julia Ann, who

turns away and notices three police officers standing near a

motorcycle on the overpass bridge. Her eyes lock with Ruby's

a second time and as the traffic moves, she drives on.

MERCER:

The next morning, Saturday, I went

to the FBI office and the agents

showed me photographs...

In the Dallas FBI office, Mercer sits at a table looking at

photos. Two FBI agents stand near her showing her photos.

She shakes her head "no" several times, until they put a

shot of Jack Ruby in front of her. She holds it up.

MERCER:

I picked out three pictures that

looked generally like the driver of

the truck and then...

MERCER:

That's the man.

FBI AGENT:

(to Second Agent)

Jack Ruby.

SECOND AGENT:

What about these others? You said

they might be him.

MERCER:

They look a little like him. But

no,

(holding up the Ruby

photo)

I'm sure this is the man.

Back in the present, Jim continues to question Mercer.

JIM:

You mean you identified him on

Saturday, the day before Ruby shot

Oswald?

MERCER:

That's right. When I saw him on TV,

I was shocked. I said to my family,

"that was the man I saw in the truck."

JIM:

(skeptical)

But you didn't seem nearly so sure

in your statement to the Warren

Commission.

MERCER:

That's what bothers me, Mr. Garrison.

You see, they've been altered. My

statements...

Jim is silent. Mercer picks up the report and finds the

pertinent paragraphs:

MERCER:

This says "Mercer could not identify

any of the photographs as being

identical with the person she had

observed slouched over the wheel of

a green Ford pickup truck." That's

not true. I recognized him and I

told them so... They also said it

was a dark green air conditioning

truck, which it was not. And here...

(she goes to another

report)

...on the Dallas Sheriff's report.

This is really strange. See that

notarized signature on the bottom of

each page? That's not my signature.

And there never was any notary present

during any of my questioning.

(she hands the papers

back to Jim)

I guess that's all...

JIM:

Mrs. Mercer, as a former FBI man,

it's difficult to accept this.

MERCER:

I know, but Mr. Garrison, the FBI is

just not doing their job.

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