![courtroom sketch trial courtroom sketch trial](https://www.loc.gov/static/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/images/objects/political-activists-on-trial/dj0038-enlarge.jpg)
I think we probably guessed that.’ TV news coverage of the trial followed the release of Coleman’s sketches.
![courtroom sketch trial courtroom sketch trial](https://blogs.loc.gov/law/files/2016/04/Ruby.jpg)
Shortly after the verdict, Coleman tweeted: ‘#rolfharris guilty. All of the figures surrounding Harris are vividly animated, yet he sits slumped and despondent, facing the judge as if his fate has overwhelmed him. In the background of one sketch, two members of the jury place their hands over their faces – presumably in light of an unwanted verdict. In contrast, the mood of Coleman’s drawings of Rolf Harris during his 2014 trial for indecent assault is distinctly stern. A drawing by sketch artist Priscilla Coleman shows Winehouse extending her leg and hitching up her dress, in order to demonstrate to the court her slight frame as evidence of her innocence. Notable cases that have been illustrated include Amy Winehouse’s 2009 trial for assault after she was accused of hitting a woman at a charity ball. Films, television shows, and podcasts purport to expose the mystery of the courtroom, and the private lives of those tangled up in its web.īeyond courtroom dramas and ‘true crime’ stories of trials, such as Dateline, American Crime Story, Killing Fields, and my recent favourite, Netflix’s The Staircase, the courtroom sketch is a key example of how the goings-on at trial are represented and disseminated. The allure of the genre, I believe, has to do with the hidden nature of the legal scenario. (I am as guilty of this as anyone: I’ve watched courtroom dramas every week religiously in the past, especially Primal Fear and The Lincoln Lawyer.) We get hooked on the interrelations of characters, the impending catastrophe, the emotional mind games played by the press, lawyers, and bogeymen criminals. Society loves courtroom dramas – they allow the viewer to consume the uncertainty of someone else’s life as opposed to fixating on their own.