Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Dallas Authorities’ Justification for Investigative News Policy

In justifying their decision to share extensive investigation details with the press, Dallas authorities cited overwhelming public demand for information. Chief Curry stated “it seemed like there was a great demand by the general public to know what was going on,” and Captain King wrote in a prepared statement that the department felt an obligation to share as much information as possible given the national and global interest in the assassination investigation, to demonstrate the scope of the work being done to address the crime.

Commission Conclusion on Pre-Trial Disclosure Limits

The Commission acknowledges that the U.S. public and global audience had a legitimate interest in learning about the JFK assassination and the investigation, including which agencies were involved, the progress of the work, that Oswald had been apprehended and charged with the murders, and that no evidence linked other people to the killings. However, the Commission concludes that neither the press nor the public had a right to contemporaneous access to the specific details of evidence being gathered against Oswald from police or prosecuting authorities. While public curiosity about these details was understandable, it should not have been satisfied at the expense of the accused’s right to an impartial jury trial, which is the appropriate forum for resolving criminal cases in the U.S. system. The Commission also notes that while withholding evidence details would have limited the public’s ability to assess investigation adequacy or push for further official action, the hasty and often inaccurate public disclosure of evidence primarily created groundless rumors and public confusion, and the public could have been adequately informed of the general scope of the investigation and interagency cooperation without sharing specific evidence details.