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Charles Douglas Givens

  Charles Douglas Givens (37 years old in 1963 and  6’3″ tall), had a few issues to deal with on that day of the assassination.

  • Charles Givens had a record for a narcotics violation. It dated from 1950, but it seems it was plenty to put a lot pressure on him and his testimony and statements.
Thanks to Steve Roe for the find and Ed Ledoux for the full page scan.

Thanks to Steve Roe for the find and Ed Ledoux for the full page scan.

  • He noticed Oswald on the 6th floor at 11:55 AM, which poses a problem since Eddie Piper and Bill Shelley both saw Oswald just before the 12 o’clock mark on the first floor. Shelley stated he saw him near the telephones, after he had come down with the floor laying crew and gone for lunch.
  • What is even more significant is his statement inside a report by the F.B.I. on Nov 22nd (slide 5 in the gallery below) where he said he saw Oswald reading a newspaper in the lunch room at 11:50!  Yet he disputed this during his W.C. testimony.

  • In Charles Douglas Givens’ W.C. testimony  he says: “Well, it was about a quarter till 12, we were on our way downstairs, and we passed him, and he was standing at the gate on the fifth floor. I came downstairs, and I discovered I left my cigarettes in my jacket pocket upstairs, and I took the elevator back upstairs to get my jacket with my cigarettes in it. When I got back upstairs, he was on the sixth floor in that vicinity, coming from that way.”

  • On Feb 13th 194 James Revill makes the admission that Givens, being previously charged with narcotics charges, would change his story for money. The question here should be, how come Givens got off so easily with 2 ounces of pot on him?

  • Now watch the video from 1967 below.

 

 

  • Givens is sought at the time the shooter of Tippit is located inside the Texas Theatre and several squad cars have made their way there. He had left the T.S.B.D. at around twelve to hook up with a friend and was too far away from the scene of the crime at the time of the shooting. The viewer ought to consider the fact that a precise A.P.B. was sent out. Whereas Oswald was only vaguely described in approximate height, age & weight. This also has a consequence for Roy Truly’s so called roll call, as Givens could have been as much a shooter as Oswald allegedly was.

 

Mr. BALL. Where is the last place you saw Givens?
Mr. TRULY. The last place I remember seeing Givens was in the middle of the crossing, in the middle of Houston Street.
Mr. BALL. Walking in which direction?
Mr. TRULY. Walking east.
Mr. BALL. Walking east on the north side of Elm?
Mr. TRULY. North side of Elm–he had not completely crossed the Houston Street.
Mr. BALL. Now, did Givens come back to the building later?
Mr. TRULY. I didn’t see him–later on he did.
Mr. BALL. When–how much later?
Mr. TRULY. Much later–I suppose I don’t know his actions during that
Mr. BALL. Did he come hack to the building?
Mr. TRULY. No.
Mr. BALL. After the shooting?
Mr. TRULY. I can’t say–I think he came back to the front of the I can’t answer for sure whether he came in the building–I know he was at the police station later on.

 

 

  • A witness to Given’s statement was secret service agent Mike Howard. Howard spoke to Fort Worth Star Telegram reporter, Thayer Waldo about this, on Feb 9th 1964. Waldo stated

“Mike Howard then explained that the negro witness had been arrested in the past by the Special Services office of the Dallas Police for gambling; and, since he was familiar with that branch of the Dallas Police, he immediately gave himself up to that branch. Mr. Howard alleged that he had visited the negro witness while he was in custody of the Special Services in the Dallas Jail.”

“Wait till that old black boy gets up in front of the Warren Commission and tells his story. That will settle everything. Yes, sir. He was right there on the same floor, looking out the next window; and, after the first shot, he looked and saw Oswald, and then he ran. I saw him in the Dallas Police station. He was still the scaredest n-word I ever seen. I heard him tell the officer, “Man you don’t know how fast fast is, because you didn’t see me run that day.” He said he ran and hid behind the boxes because he was afraid that Oswald would shoot him.” (CE 2516)

This whole scenario painted by Howard is complete rubbish in the sense that Givens had left the T.S.B.D. by 12:00. He was far away enough not to be able to witness anything going down.

Then Sylvia Meagher published an article in Texas Monthly about Givens’ testimony and in which David Belin was allowed to write a reply. Most telling is the rebuttal to his article: Mr. Belin’s article is the slick irrelevant reply of a lawyer who doesn’t have much of a defense to present.