Dead Man Walking ?
Yesterday was a strange day, eighty degrees in the morning, fifty-five by afternoon. It was also the last day of testimony in the death penalty case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The defense called as their final witness Sister Helen Prejean of “Dead Man Walking” fame. She testified about several meetings with Tsarnaev during which he once said, “No one deserves to suffer like they did.” Whether that was an expression of remorse, or merely regret is not clear.
The government called two rebuttal witnesses and we were done. Closing arguments tomorrow and then it’s in the hands of the jury, Dzhokhar’s life that is.
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.
