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Courtroom sketch of witness Dr. Holbrook dated March 11, 1964
Courtroom sketch of witness Dr. Holbrook dated March 11, 1964

Courtroom sketch of witness Dr. Holbrook dated March 11, 1964

Object number2004.020.0007
Date03/11/1964
ClassificationsArt
Artist Charles Fisher
ObjectCourtroom sketch
Credit LineChuck Fisher Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions14 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm)
Collections
DescriptionCourtroom pencil sketch on paper by Charles Fisher. The sketch shows medical witness for the state Dr. John T. Holbrook testifying during the trial of Jack Ruby on March 11, 1964. The sketch shows Dr. Holbrook partially turned towards the viewer wearing a suit and tie. The caption in the top right reads "Dr. Holbrook 3/11/64," and the caption in the bottom right reads "Med. Testimony for the state." The artist's signature: "Fisher" is at the bottom right, underneath the caption. Charles "Chuck" Fisher was the art director at KRLD-TV in 1963. Fisher made the pencil sketches during the trial of Jack Ruby for KRLD-TV after the judge barred cameras from the courtroom.
Curatorial Commentary
Dr. John T. Holbrook, a former colleague of Dr. Robert Stubblefield who had testified immediately prior, was a psychiatrist on the staff of Beverly Hills Hospital in Dallas at the time of the Jack Ruby trial. Holbrook first met with Ruby the day after the Oswald shooting and had examined him on several subsequent occasions. He concluded that Ruby knew "right from wrong" and was aware of "the nature and consequences of his act [shooting Lee Harvey Oswald] at the time." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator