Mr. Hubert. What happened at this arraignment—was it the same as before?
Mr. Johnston. He was not arraigned at this time. He was then arraigned after he was removed to the detail room where the press was allowed to have their first interview with the defendant, with Lee Harvey Oswald.
Subsequently in a conference between Captain Fritz, Mr. Wade, and two or three of his assistants and myself, and Chief Curry—it was decided to go ahead and arraign him and that arraignment was held at 1:35 a.m., November 23, 1963, in the identification bureau of the Dallas Police Department, and once again I appraised him of his constitutional rights, read the affidavit, and advised him again that I remanded him to the custody of the sheriff, Dallas County, denying bond as capital offense. He was also told at both of these instances that he would be given the right to contact an attorney of his choice.
Mr. Hubert. Did he ask this at either of these occasions?
Mr. Johnston. Yes, sir; that was one of the first things he said—that he wanted this man from New York of the Civil Liberties Union.
Mr. Hubert. He said that to you?
Mr. Johnston. Yes [spelling] A-b-t; however that’s pronounced. He said he would like to have this gentleman and I told Oswald when he made that statement that he would be given the opportunity to contact the attorney of his choice.
Mr. Hubert. Whose duty was it to see that he was given that opportunity?
Mr. Johnston. The telephone would be made available to him to make any call he wished to make and that would have been advanced to him through the normal routine: He possibly could have been given this permission at the city jail and also had he ever made it to the county jail, here again he would have been given the opportunity to contact a lawyer.
Mr. Hubert. In any event, you made it clear to him that he had a right to contact a lawyer?