Dr. Shires. Yes; as long as it's on a tangent.
Mr. Specter. Is it likely to receive a wound like that from a high velocity weapon of 2,000 feet per second and at about 160 to 250 feet?
Dr. Shires. If it's a tangential wound, tangential wounds can be very strange. A large bullet can cause a small hole if its on a tangent or a small bullet can rip out a fairly large hole on a tangent. It just depends on the time of contact and the angle of contact with the skin. That's why it's awfully hard to predict.
Mr. Specter. So that wound could have either been the first striking of the Governor from the bullet, or it could have been from a missile whose velocity was spent after going through President Kennedy and through the Governor's body and wrist and then caused that wound in the thigh?
Dr. Shires. That's right, if it was a tangential bullet.
Mr. Specter. Dr. Shires, have you ever been contacted by any representative of the Federal Government prior to today?
Dr. Shires. Yes.
Mr. Specter. And who was it who contacted you?
Dr. Shires. I don't recall the name—it was two individuals from the Secret Service. They presented their credentials at the time to the administration and then subsequently to me and they were given copies of our operative reports, statements made by people concerned with the President and Governor at the time, and then subsequently one of those same two men from Secret Service returned and charted the entrance and exit wounds which you have described previously, or we have looked at previously in these five diagrams.
Mr. Specter. Have you ever been interviewed by any other representative of the Federal Government before today?