Dr. Jenkins. Well, I was feeling for—I was palpating here for a pulse to see whether the closed chest cardiac massage was effective or not and this probably was some blood that had come from the other point and so I thought there was a wound there also.
Mr. Specter. At approximately what time was President Kennedy pronounced dead?
Dr. Jenkins. Well, this was pronounced, we know the exact time as 1300, according to my watch, at least, at the time.
Mr. Specter. And what, in your opinion, was the cause of death?
Dr. Jenkins. Cerebral injury—brain injury.
Mr. Specter. Was President Kennedy ever turned over during the course of this treatment at Parkland?
Dr. Jenkins. No.
Mr. Specter. Why was he not turned over, Dr. Jenkins?
Dr. Jenkins. Oh, I think this was beyond our prerogative completely. I think as we pronounced the President dead, those in attendance who were there just sort of melted away, well, I guess "melted" is the wrong word, but we felt like we were intruders and left. I'm sure that this was considerably beyond our prerogative, and the facts were we knew he had a fatal wound, and I think my own personal feeling was that this was—would have been meddlesome on anybody's part after death to have done any further search.
Mr. Specter. Was any examination of his back made before death, to your knowledge?