Emmet Hudson never dropped to the ground!

[Richard Smith]

I don't see a lot of value in taking a generalized statement about actions taken during a sudden and unexpected event and then subjecting them to pedantic analysis with nearly 60 years of hindsight.  It doesn't seem to make any difference if a witness to this event dropped to the ground immediately or several seconds later.  Getting caught up in that kind of morass is largely pointless. 

[Chris Bristow]

I don't see a lot of value in taking a generalized statement about actions taken during a sudden and unexpected event and then subjecting them to pedantic analysis with nearly 60 years of hindsight.  It doesn't seem to make any difference if a witness to this event dropped to the ground immediately or several seconds later.  Getting caught up in that kind of morass is largely pointless.

If he just got down on the ground a little later I would agree with you. But I am accepting for argument the premise that the head shot was the last shot. That would mean his memory of getting down on the ground and hearing the shot even better from there was completely wrong.
  Under normal circumstances he would have been a good Witness to help debunk a grassy knoll Theory because he was right there and reported nothing about the fence with regard to sound. But now his bad memory about the events makes his testimony  about the location of the shot unreliable.
  You also have the whole story about the guy next to him getting down and then convincing him to get down. But we see that guy ran away while they're  both still standing. So even if there was a fourth shot he was completely wrong about that guy. His  testimony overall I think is unreliable.

[Chris Bristow]

And this.

 When we see Hudson and Mudd sitting on the steps it is at least 30 seconds after the head shot at 313. So he definitely sat down at some point but was standing at 313 and Z413 as his hat seen through the Pyracantha bush.

[Chris Bristow]

Here is a new wrinkle. Thee SS recreation film from the 6th floor shows that after Z450 there is no theoretical 4th shot possible. The limo moves behind the Fort Worth sign first, then the tree on the knoll blocks the shot after that
 Knowing Hudson was still standing at Z frame 413 means there is only a 2 second window for him to drop to the ground and hear a shot from the TSB before the target disappears from Oswald's view.

[Steve Barber]

For years I just accepted Emmet Hudson's WC testimony in which he said he very clearly heard that the shot came from the TSB because he had dropped to the ground by then. He said when the 3rd shot came I was close to the ground" and "when you are on the ground It is a whole lot clearer".
 He states the guy next to him dropped to the ground first and kept telling Emmet to "Get down their shooting the president!". Emmet said he heeded the advice and  sat next to him.
  Emmet Hudson was one of the closest to the theorized knoll shooter position, only 40 feet away and the bullet would have come within 12 feet of him.
 He testified that when he initially said the bullet came from behind he really meant behind JFK not behind him at the knoll fence.
 So this very detailed account from a witness so close to the knoll is strong evidence for no shot coming from the knoll. But his entire account of he and the guy next to him dropping to the ground is completely false!
 The films of that day show Hudson many times. The only time we don't see him and the the other guy standing there is for 5.75 seconds is after Willis 5 and before the Muchmore frames starting at Z 308 thru to Z 338. By then the other guy is turning to run and he disappear into oblivion, he never dropped down! Then again after less than 1 second gap we see him in Nix. He is seen in Muchmore and Nix standing right through the head shot till the Nix frame equaling approx Z frame 350.  Hudson is starting to turn away but all the shots have already happened. To late to drop and hear a shot.
 There was never a point during the 2nd or 3rd shot that Hudson ever had time to drop down. Only one second between Willis 5 and the 2nd shot. No time for one guy to drop then ask Hudson to get down before he drops too. Before, during and after the last shot we see him standing the whole time. In Z 413 we see his hat through the Pyrocanthus bush and that hat is approx 6 feet of the ground if located on the steps where Hudson was.
  All these years of looking at the films and reading testimony I missed this. But it is undeniable that Emmet Hudson's testimony is completely unreliable.

  Emmett Hudson can be seen falling to the ground in these Zapruder film frames.  Obviously, Hudson was in shock when he saw the fatal shot hit JFK, and stood there frozen.  One simply cannot expect people to all react the same when they see something as shocking as this was, for example.  At least judging from what these frames of the Z film reveal, we know when Hudson fell to the ground.  His recollection was a little off, but he did fall to the ground within seconds of the fatal shot. 

    Hudson's head with the cap on it, can be seen at the bottom, right hand side of the screen among foliage on the bush between he and Zapruder.  It is difficult to see him, but if you click on the gear shaped icon on the bottom of the YT screen, it will bring up a pop up menu which enables one to adjust the speed.  Click on any of the numbers in the list of numbers above the words "Normal Speed" top of the small window--2.5 being the slowest of the four speeds. 

[Chris Bristow]

  Emmett Hudson can be seen falling to the ground in these Zapruder film frames.  Obviously, Hudson was in shock when he saw the fatal shot hit JFK, and stood there frozen.  One simply cannot expect people to all react the same when they see something as shocking as this was, for example.  At least judging from what these frames of the Z film reveal, we know when Hudson fell to the ground.  His recollection was a little off, but he did fall to the ground within seconds of the fatal shot. 

    Hudson's head with the cap on it, can be seen at the bottom, right hand side of the screen among foliage on the bush between he and Zapruder.  It is difficult to see him, but if you click on the gear shaped icon on the bottom of the YT screen, it will bring up a pop up menu which enables one to adjust the speed.  Click on any of the numbers in the list of numbers above the words "Normal Speed" top of the small window--2.5 being the slowest of the four speeds. 

In the Z film we see him drop about 5 inches and shift to his right. His hat is still 5+ ft off the ground. If he just bent his knees and lowered to 4 ft he would disappear below the frame altogether. So we can't say he dropped to the ground based on images in the Z film.
 Hudson claimed he could clearly hear where the shot was coming from because he was laying down. But he was never laying down during the shots so his claim was unreliable. He was totally wrong about the guy next to him getting down at all. He never got down, he ran away.
  I would guess if Hudson was cross examined and shown the proof that he stood through the shooting sequence, his credibility would have been toast.
 

[Steve Barber]

In the Z film we see him drop about 5 inches and shift to his right. His hat is still 5+ ft off the ground. If he just bent his knees and lowered to 4 ft he would disappear below the frame altogether. So we can't say he dropped to the ground based on images in the Z film.
 Hudson claimed he could clearly hear where the shot was coming from because he was laying down. But he was never laying down during the shots so his claim was unreliable. He was totally wrong about the guy next to him getting down at all. He never got down, he ran away.
  I would guess if Hudson was cross examined and shown the proof that he stood through the shooting sequence, his credibility would have been toast.

 You're not making any sense at all.  The speed that he is exhibiting, dropping out of the film is far too fast for someone to be "bending their knees" and squatting or whatever.  I dare you to try that without completely falling over!  Hudson was an elderly man. I've seen him in the Jimmy Darnell film where he's captured close-up at the opposite end of the pergola.  As far as the guy standing next to him who also fell... he's clearly talking about the man he refers to as "The young fellow" in the red shirt and dark pants whom he mentioned a couple of times.  I doubt very much--based on the shock of seeing the top of President Kennedy's head fly off-that he was even aware of the black man standing next to him "taking off".  On top of all this, you are making an enormous lot out of nothing!  Big deal that Hudson got some of the details wrong about his actions during a murder right in front of him! You maybe want to do some research on the affects of going into shock has on the human body. 

[Chris Bristow]

You're not making any sense at all.  The speed that he is exhibiting, dropping out of the film is far too fast for someone to be "bending their knees" and squatting or whatever.  I dare you to try that without completely falling over!  Hudson was an elderly man. I've seen him in the Jimmy Darnell film where he's captured close-up at the opposite end of the pergola.  As far as the guy standing next to him who also fell... he's clearly talking about the man he refers to as "The young fellow" in the red shirt and dark pants whom he mentioned a couple of times.  I doubt very much--based on the shock of seeing the top of President Kennedy's head fly off-that he was even aware of the black man standing next to him "taking off".  On top of all this, you are making an enormous lot out of nothing!  Big deal that Hudson got some of the details wrong about his actions during a murder right in front of him! You maybe want to do some research on the affects of going into shock has on the human body.

Personally I think bending quickly at the knees is the fastest way to drop your head height 5 in or so. That's about how much he drops through the pyracantha bush. In fact bending the knees is the first thing you do when dropping to the ground. Dropping quickly into a bent knee stance is very stable and I have no idea why you think it would be so hard. Regardless, the issue of what he was doing in Z frame 413 does not change the fact that he was standing during the shots.
  I fully accept  people's stories can get screwed up when witnessing a shocking event. But that is really my point. We cannot trust his account of where the shots came from when he is so completely wrong about how he heard them. Specifically saying he could tell very well where tthe shot came from  BECAUSE he was down on the ground
When he was not on the ground makes
 his testimony unreliable.