RAYMOND BROWN in JERSEY CITY BRENNAN COURTHOUSE COURT ART SHOW

Defendant Charles Hicks with defense attorney Raymond Brown 

 More on the Panther drawings from Richard Tomlinson. Now that we were able to identify the drawing of the 3 defendants in the recent post, this piece became another puzzle solved.  With the help of Brian Neary (former Hudson County Bar President, whose inspired thinking was behind this show and Ray Brown Jr calls him the "curator of his father's spirit") we were able to ID the legendary defense attorney Raymond Brown and  defendant Charles Hicks.  The story below shows the approach of Mr Brown to the case, a marked difference from the Panther trials in Chicago and New York, which Richard covered as well. The New York Panther trial is featured in the upcoming book, The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art. www.illustratedcourtroom.com

HISTORIC NJ COURT ART AT BRENNAN COURTHOUSE in JERSEY CITY, The Black Panthers

Jersey City Black Panthers 

This drawing by Richard Tomlinson has always been one of our favorites,  but we never knew who was pictured in the image. It was kept in a nice folio book for over 40 years and was never removed. While putting the show together for the Brennan Courthouse (which will open on Monday April 29th), Richard's widow generously agreed to allow the work to be shown, but still no idea of who was in the image. A computer search came up negative, no clues there. Never thinking a caption would be on the back of the paper, no one looked, until today. There it was, the complete story ( see image below). This beautiful drawing shows the 3 defendants of the trial: Rowley, Perez and Hicks in Richard's bold iconoclastic style. A mystery solved. 

Left to right Isaiah Rowley, Victor Perez, Charles Hicks of the Jersey City Black Panther trial 

HALLORAN and the FBI

Rarely in court do we have a chance to draw the FBI agent in charge of an investigation (unless they are on the stand).  But on Tuesday given the view I had, Agent Holmes was squarely in the picture. Ended up it was an interesting visual contrast. The agent who brought these guys down was front and center though rarely if ever mentioned in the press, even if his name is at the top of the complaint.

Special Agent Thomas Holmes, defense lawyer Dennis Ring, Council-member Daniel Halloran
in White Plains Federal Court

The New York Times  had an  op-ed piece on the Smith/Halloran corruption scandal.
New York Times editorial
NYT reporters Mike Wilson and Willie Rashbaum wrote a superb article outlining the scandal.
Wilson/Rashbaum story
Julie Shapiro of DNAinfo wrote a Who's Who of  Smith/Halloran scandal
Julie Shapiro DNAinfo story
Capital New York had a selection of the various media takes on the scandal.
Capital New York Link

JAMES HOLMES BY BILL ROBLES

James Holmes with defense lawyers by Bill Robles

James Holmes and defense team

Link:
New York Times Holmes story
On Easter Sunday Bill Robles boarded a flight from LA to Colorado to cover the hearing of James Holmes, the Colorado cinema shooter. On Monday during the hearing the prosecutor said they were seeking the death penalty in the case. Bill was in the courtroom and captured this scene of Holmes and his defense team.

MICHAEL STEINBERG PERP WALK

MICHAEL STEINBERG ARREST  PERP WALK IN COURTHOUSE

While waiting for the appearance of Michael Steinberg and the courtroom to open,

out of the elevator walked 2 FBI agents and a tall man in a navy sweater, dark pants, very coiffed 

grey hair. Then I notice his hands were behind him,  that he was handcuffed and realized,  

this must be Michael Steinberg.

 The agents tried to enter the courtroom, it was locked so they tried to find another spot 

put him, then finally decided to try the stairwell, and appears they got into the court that way.

It was moving way too fast  for me to capture on the spot, esp with no materials out to draw.

By the time we got into the courtroom, 

Steinberg was seated inside  and his handcuffs were off .

So I drew this from memory. What struck me was how his head was held so high 

and he was so polished looking. An odd contrast w those handcuffs. 

I had read he did not want to be perp walked, they did not do it outside

but they did it in the courthouse. 

New York Times Peter Lattman Story Link

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/sac-capital-manager-arrested-on-insider-trading-charges/

U.S. Supreme Court Questions Federal Gay-Marriage Law

Today in Washington DC the US Supreme Court heard arguments about  challenges to the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Greg Stohr, reporter for Bloomberg News was there and filed this report.
Bloomberg Business Week DOMA article.

Many images are drawn of the court but rare are images from the  press room.

Greg Stohr from Bloomberg News at his desk in  the SCOTUS press room by Aggie Kenny

When Aggie Kenny visited Washington DC to cover the Roberts court, she  drew the press room and Greg Stohr. Note the blue blazer hanging, indicating the somewhat formal attire worn covering the court. 

RENGAN RAJARATNAM

left to right: AUSA David Massey, defense lawyer Vinoo Varghese, defendant Rengan Rajaratnam 

Today Raj Rajaratnam's brother was arraigned on charges of insider trading. When I covered the Raj trial Rengan's name would come up and sometimes his photo was shown. When I finally saw him in person  it was surprising  how different he looked than the photo I saw at trial. He is much smaller than his brother, and does not look much like Raj at all.

Today was his first appearance. Judge Buchwald was assigned the case, David Massey is the Assistant US Attorney and Rengan's lawyer is Vinoo Varghese. The judge seeing these names for the first time, instead of attempting to pronounce them,  referred to Rengan Rajaratnam as Mr RR and his lawyer as Mr VV. Admittedly took me a while to learn how to say Raj Rajaratnam's name and spell it too.

Yoko Ono for Gun Control

Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow tweeted for gun control

Yoko Ono Gun Control Story

This image says so much about this tragic event.

As court artists we see the aftermath of gun violence in court:

a weeping family member, horrible frightening testimony, an awful piece of evidence.

This photo shows what words can sometimes not describe.

Below is a piece of artwork by Aggie Kenny who, as a Lennon fan, was faced with the unpleasant assignment to draw the man who shot John Lennon, Mark David Chapman; seated with a copy of Catcher in the Rye. A copy of the novel was in Chapman's possession when he was arrested on December 8.

Mark David Chapman in court, during formal arraignment, December 1980
100 Centre Street Manhattan Criminal Court.
by Aggie Kenny

Chapman is currently incarcerated in the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York
On August 23 2012, Chapman was denied parole by a three-member board. 
He may apply for his next parole hearing in 2014

Abu Hamza Al-Masri, Handless Terror Suspect, May Get Spork For Hand

Abu Hamza in Manhattan Federal Court during his initial appearance.

 

 

 

Abu Hamza Al-Masri, Handless Terror Suspect, May Get Spork For Hand

Update on this story, Abu Hamza was not allowed to wear his prosthetics in court when he was arraigned several months ago ( pictured).  But now in place of a hook or a rubber hand, his lawyers would like for their client to be outfitted with a spork – a combination spoon and fork. Hamza is scheduled to go trial in New York City next year, and faces the possibility of life in prison.

Judge orders arraignment for Colorado theater shooting suspect over lawyers’ plea for delay

Judge orders arraignment for Colorado theater shooting suspect over lawyers’ plea for delay

7NEWS - Judge overseeing Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes case says statutes constitutional - Local Story

7NEWS - Judge overseeing Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes case says statutes constitutional - Local Story

Bin Laden's son-in-law pleads not guilty in NY - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

news link
Bin Laden's son-in-law pleads not guilty in NY - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Bin Laden's son in law was composed and appeared resigned to the hand cuffs the US Marshals  placed on him after the hearing. Thought it was an interesting view esp with the law clerks looking on as this scene unfolded.They almost became symbolic Americans looking upon a relation to Bin Laden, the man who was responsible for 9/11.  Now he was caught and in US custody.

MARTHA ON THE STAND :JC PENNEY LAWSUIT

3/5/13
Martha smiled sweetly at those of us in the jury box as she took the stand. My front row seat gave me a firsthand view of the Martha vibe. Although she was in a bit of a pickle, she managed to be witty, haughty, knowledgeable and combative . AK

She was testifying across the street from where she stood trial exactly 9 years ago in room 110, 40 Centre Street, the Manhattan Federal Courthouse.


Story link
Martha on Stand

Martha Stewart on the stand with Theodore Grossman attorney for  Macy's

MATHEW MARTOMA HEARING > updated

Update April 5, 2013
note below states that this hearing was held in the same courtroom where Martha Stewart was tried  9 year ago. As a complete coincidence Mathew Martoma just replaced Charles Stillman with one of the defense lawyers from the Martha Stewart case, Richard Strassberg who was Peter Bacanovic's lawyer. 
Below is a link to the NYT story about the switch. 
NYT Peter Lattman story


Today in Manhattan Federal Court in the same courtroom where the Cannibal Cop is being tried,  was a hearing regarding one of the largest cases involving insider trading in history. Mathew Martoma was a trader who allegedly  illegally used tips from a doctor  who was in charge of monitoring an Alzheimer’s drug tests to make millions of dollars. 
Today his defense attorney was granted more time by Judge Gardephe to review the 4 millions pages of documents he has received from the government. 
The judge granted his request, and the next hearing date is in June. 
Bloomberg Patty Hurtado Story:
Bloomberg Martoma Story

Charles Stillman defense attorney for Mathew Martoma speaking during court

After the hearing was over the Charles Stillman went off the record to tell the judge that he had first been in this particular courtroom 54 years ago working on the Buffalino case.

Russell_Bufalino

This was also the same courtroom where Martha Stewart was tried. As a complete coincidence she was across the street testifying in a civil trial at 60 Centre St. 

ARGENTINA BONDS

Last week there was a significant but not widely publicized hearing about the Argentina Bonds case. The hearing took place in the appeals court on the 17th floor of the newly renovated  Manhattan Federal Courthouse.
This is the same courthouse where the Cannibal Cop trial is taking place; that story has garnered much of the US media interest.
This case is so specific to business news,when I mentioned the Argentina Bonds hearing, people thought I was talking about a person not a country.  Indeed I made that mistake when I was first assigned.  However, the case was so closely watched in Argentina, there were quite a few reporters from Argentina covering the case and their vice president and finance minister were in the courtroom. The legal arguments sounded complex and  I could tell the court was grappling with the legal issues.  Especially Judge Raggi ( far right) was asking very pointed and concise questions of both sides,. The courts ruling was made on Friday.
Here is a story about the case and the appellate hearing
Bloomberg Bob Vanvoris story about the hearing

A story about the ruling in the case from the 2nd Circuit
Argentina Bond Hearing and ruling

Below are the illustrations from the case:

David Boies lawyer for the Exchange Bondholder Group, argues in front of the 2nd Circuit
 while Argentina VP Amado Boudou and Finance Minister Hernan Lorenzino seated far left
by Elizabeth Williams

Lawyer representing Argentina,  Jonathan Blackman makes argument to the panel of judges
while the Argentina VP and Finance Minister seated far left.