Three members of the alleged Russian spy ring who resided in Arlington appeared very briefly -about three minutes- in U.S. District Court, Alexandria yesterday for detention hearings that were postponed. Pictured above is Mikhail Semenko standing before Magistrate-Judge Buchanan. The other two, Patricia Mills and Michael Zottoli, are pictured below.
Their detention hearing has been rescheduled for this afternoon.
I had such a short time to sketch them yesterday that I expect when I see them again in court today they will appear quite different to me.
WaPo story here.
Courtroom sketching is a form of visual journalism or reportage drawing that is slowly dying out. Where once upon a time news organization each had their own artist covering a story, today a “pool” artist often sketches for all. It is a demanding and stressful discipline where the drawing is often done directly and under tight deadline.
After forty-five years of news sketching in courtrooms and congress I’m calling it quits. It’s been sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, almost always interesting. I’ve been lucky to work with some really great people. Don’t think I’ll miss it, but a little scared of not having a deadline.
While I won’t be sketching in court anymore, I may continue to post to this blog from time to time. Not sure what that might be. I’m about to start a new assignment documenting infrastructure and construction. Could be interesting.
