LAFAYETTE —
In a time where your CD player, video camera and computer can all be housed in the same handheld device and your cellphone can understand — and respond to — verbal commands, there are still some places where handheld technology is of little use.
Most of Indiana’s county courtrooms, for instance.
Though attorneys can have access to laptops, projectors and monitors, and some courtrooms video-record daily proceedings, cameras of any kind remain prohibited. That includes cellphones.
For Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Don Daniel, it makes the hundreds of vintage courtroom sketches — started in 1968 by Jane Moore, a former court reporter in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1, according to a Jan. 31, 1974, Journal & Courier article — that he holds onto all the more valuable.
Moore’s drawings are mostly headshots of attorneys and defendants, with a sprinkle of sketches of jurors in the jury box, done in the late 1960s and early ‘70s on pieces of scratch paper, roughly the size of a small notepad.
Most court reporters in Indiana courtrooms do not record proceedings by hand using stenography equipment. Rather, they record the proceedings on tape or digitally, then later transcribe testimony or proceedings when necessary. Moore had time to make sketches because she was not constantly taking shorthand.
Since Moore’s death in 2002, the drawings have been stored in two photo albums Daniel keeps in his chambers.
But for about three months in 2005, they were posted at the now-closed Wells Yeager Best pharmacy at 120 N. Third St., along the courthouse square. Pharmacy owner Steve Klink said Daniel showed the drawings to him, and he immediately thought, “other people have to see these.
“People came just to see them. Relatives of people in the drawings came to see them,” Klink told the Journal & Courier. “Lawyers who were pictured got a big kick out of it. It was interesting for everyone to see the defendants and talk about the old cases.”
The defendants, according to Daniel, include a man who was caught attempting to leave the United States and was stopped near a border with a dead body in his vehicle. Some defendants were drawn multiple times, such as members of a notorious Wabash Avenue family repeatedly tried for crimes that included murder, arson, burglary, theft and weapons offenses.
Most impressive, Daniel said, was Moore’s ability to accurately capture the likeness and emotions of the attorneys and defendants in her drawings — especially given her lack of formal training.
According to the 1974 J&C article, Moore told a reporter that her only training came from an art teacher at Jefferson High School, where she graduated in 1942.
“Sometimes I have to try several times. On others, the sketch comes easy,” Moore said. “ . The sketching goes about the way as it does when I play the piano or electric organ. If I’m in the right mood, I do fine. If I’m not, it’s bad.”
Local News
Courtroom artist: Drawing the drama
Indiana judge saves vintage courtroom sketches
- Local News
-
-
LHS students turn in laptops at year's end
After a year of 1,250 laptops carried in student backpacks, in classrooms and to homes, Logansport High School is reporting a good turn-in rate and a great year of academic achievements.
-
Company invests $1.1 million in Miami Co.
A Logansport-based company is investing $1.1 million to expand its operations into a facility north of Peru. The company said it will bring more than 30 jobs to the county.
-
Career center gets $15K grant
Students at the Century Career Center will be able to print out 3D models of their drawings next fall due to a $15,000 state grant.
-
Boost in education funding won’t benefit all schools
In the budget bill passed by the General Assembly last month, there is more money allocated for K-12 education over the next two years, but that doesn’t mean every school will get more dollars.
-
Playing with food
Two foods classes at Lewis Cass Junior-Senior High School got crafty with their food last week following family and consumer science teacher Courtney Nethercutt’s lead.
-
Unclaimed property amounts to millions in Indiana
There are millions of dollars in Indiana, the rightful owners of which cannot be located. A program through the Indiana Attorney General’s office is trying to get that property into the right hands.
-
Fulton Community Center completed
Almost a decade in the making, the Fulton Community Center is up and running.
-
Status conference set for former state rep candidate
A June 11 status conference was set Tuesday for the former Democratic state representative candidate accused of selling cocaine.
-
An equine discovery
When Bunker Hill resident Eunice Rush worked in sales, she used her education in business math and management information technology to teach a class on how to identify clients’ personality types and how to highlight areas of one’s own personality to form an effective business relationship.
-
Annexation residents demand answers
A demand for answers was the theme from the twenty people who spoke at the public meeting regarding the city’s proposed annexation areas as they took turns addressing public officials and those they’ve hired to assist with the project at a packed Logansport City Council Chambers Monday night.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest
Wash. State Man Arrested Following Ricin Scare
Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness
New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season
Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
