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Drama in courtroom captured by artists
This sketch shows Judge Edwin Kosik during jury selection in the trial of former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella Monday.
This rendition of the jury pool in the trial of former judge Mark Ciavarella is by artist Ted Michalowski.
This sketch by artist Ted Michalowski shows former judge Mark Ciavarella and his lawyers.
Above are illustrations by artist Ted Michalowski of the trial of former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella. Michalowski is doing sketches for The Times Leader, as cameras are not allowed in the courtroom in Pennsylvania under most circumstances.
BILL TARUTIS/for the times leader
Anyone high-school age or older in 1995 likely remembers seeing photos or video footage from ex-NFL star O.J. Simpson’s murder trial that year, and perhaps some other infamous court trials broadcast on TV news shows since then.
But none of those trials were in Pennsylvania.
In the Keystone state, the public must rely on artists’ depictions for an idea of what the major players in high-profile cases look like as they either asked questions of witnesses or testified as witnesses.
Pennsylvania and 14 other states – as well as most federal courts – don’t allow cameras in courtrooms.
That’s why The Times Leader hired courtroom artist Ted Michalowski to create sketches of former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella, his attorneys, federal prosecutors, witnesses and U.S. District Court Judge Edwin Kosik during Ciavarella’s corruption trial, which began Feb. 7 and continues on Monday.
“We wanted to give our readers in print and online an idea of what was going on in the courtroom and what the principal players looked like when they were on the stand,” explained The Times Leader Vice President/Executive Editor Joe Butkiewicz.
Butkiewicz said Michalowski was chosen to create the sketches for the newspaper because his work “seems to capture some of the energy that happens in a trial.”
While some courtroom artists use black lead or colored pencils, crayons or charcoal for their sketches, Michalowski, 37, of Scranton, said he prefers water colors.
“I can work faster and produce a lot more drawings. It allows me to give the media I’m working for the widest arsenal of images,” Michalowski said in an interview last week.
Michalowski, who has been doing courtroom art for the past six years for various media outlets including ABC News and CNN, said he tries to capture the strongest emotions displayed on the faces of his subjects.
What has made the Ciavarella trial more difficult than others has been his inability to get a seat close to witnesses and counsel. “I never sat so far away from the key figures. … Pole position for me is between the judge and counsel,” he said.
While Michalowski tries to make his drawings more aesthetically interesting by, for example, drawing the American flag closer to the judge or moving a prosecutor closer to a witness to “break up space” or “add color,” he maintains “journalistic integrity” by truly representing the emotions of the subjects and the colors and styles of their clothing, hair and features, he said.
Michalowski recalled that while covering the city of Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act trial in Scranton in 2007 for CNN, one of the lead attorneys looked at his drawings and, bothered by one, wanted Michalowski to change it or not submit it.
“I caught him in a very dramatic pose, with his hand up as he was talking to the judge. His body language was supporting the fact that he was making a point,” Michalowski said. “His forehead was creased because he was so intense and, to him, that represents aging.”
Michalowski said he told the attorney he wasn’t doing fashion illustration and reassured him the painting made him look intense, but the attorney left “quite frustrated.” However, he returned the next day, said his wife saw the illustration on CNN and thought it made him look “in-command and very sexy,” so he asked to buy it.
Renowned courtroom artist Marilyn Church, who has covered scores of infamous trials including those of Woody Allen, Bernard Madoff, John Gotti and Bernhard Goetz, said her most difficult assignment over the past 36 years was drawing Martha Stewart at her insider trading trial.
“It’s always difficult to draw a beautiful woman. Martha has such even features, nothing stood out. She didn’t like being drawn. She had hair that flopped in her face and I think she used it to hide,” Church said in a phone interview from her home in New York City last week.
The trial also was problematic to Church because “Martha Stewart was an icon for me. To see her accused of this, someone who has done so many wonderful things, was difficult,” Church said.
Actor/director Woody Allen’s trial was difficult for the same reason, she said.
“Allen was also an icon for me. To see him accused of stealing (Mia Farrow’s) daughter and breaking up that family, and to see these people day after day in court … I was caught up in it,” she said.
But the most difficult trial for Church, who is now in her 60s, was that of Central Park killer Robert Chambers in 1987.
The “preppy murder” suspect was college age, and Church’s son wasn’t much younger. “It could have been kids from his school,” Church said. “It happened near the Metropolitan Museum, and I walked by there frequently. It just gave me nightmares. The parents of both sides (the suspect and the victim) were in the courtroom every day. The tension, the stare-downs … it was a very dramatic trial,” Church said.
The Library of Congress is purchasing a selection of Church’s most sought-after drawings, but the bulk of her archive is being donated to the library by Church’s family.
Church’s drawings are an important part of American history because she portrayed events unfolding in courtrooms where cameras were not allowed, according to the library website.
“She provided insight into the people who influenced the major issues of the late 20th century, including race and race relations, gender, women’s reproduction, political and corporate corruption, religion, international relations and celebrities,” the site states.
“Her collection offers researchers an opportunity to learn from poignant illustrations about some of the most famous people in America during their most vulnerable moments.”
ON THE NET
Learn more about the work of Ted Michalowski and Marilyn Church on their websites – www.tedmichalowski.com and www.marilynchurch.com
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