Volume 17, No. 5
May 17th - May 31st 2013 FREE PUBLICATION
riverviewobserver.net
201-349-4336
Pg. 2 On the Cover Pg. 6
30 by 30
Steven Fulop Wins Jersey City Mayoral Race
See page 7
Pg. 8
Decor
Pg. 15
Razza
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Courtroom Artist Christine Cornell Sees the Art in Justice
A
By Sally Deering
terrorist flirted with her; a murderer stuck his tongue out at her; and a victim whose face was slashed shared with her the heart-stopping details of her attack – it’s all in a day’s work for courtroom artist Christine Cornell who has spent decades in the courtroom with her canvas and pastels drawing some of the biggest criminal trials in our country’s history. Cornell, a Weehawken resident, has been drawing trials since the 1970s and images from her portfolio are sought after by documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns who features 30 Cornell drawings in his new film “The Central Park Five” which recently aired on PBS about the five young men convicted and later found not guilty of the rape attack of the “Central Park Jogger”. Just last week CNN contacted Cornell for a documentary on the 1980 murder of Beatles’ singer/songwriter John Lennon. They wanted to purchase the drawing Cornell did of gunman Mark David Chapman at his arraignment clutching the book “Catcher in the Rye”. When asked what makes a good courtroom drawing, Cornell says, “Composition. You have to have the key elements and be able to see and feel what the defendant is feeling. You need the judge, the witness, the attorney engaging the witness. It’s always more interesting when there’s more than one person. These drawings are more telling when there’s an interaction between people. You can look back at the drawing and it can con’t pg. 2 actually tell the story.” Pictured at right are some samples of Christine Cornell’s Courtroom Scenes: (top) Woody Allen and Mia, Custody Battle over Dylan (middle) Mathra Stewart Trial (bottom) Howard Kosell USFL vs NFL