Professor Abraham and the Justices
Marcia Coyle had the idea for this drawing of UVa professor Henry J. Abraham and the eight chief justices who served during his lifetime, so far (Abraham is 92).
Extreme amends
In an effort to atone for past wrongs William Beebe e-mailed a woman he had date raped twenty years ago at a University of Virginia fraternity party. The victim, however, was not satisfied with an apology and took the e-mails to the police.
This sketch is from the preliminary hearing on March 24, 2006 where Beebe and the victim came face to face for the first time since they were students at UVA. The case went to the Grand Jury which indicted, and a trial date was set for November 27. Instead of going to trial Beebe entered a guilty plea earlier this week and will be sentenced March 15.
About Me
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.
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