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Courtroom sketch of prospective juror A.C. Phillips during Jack Ruby trial
Courtroom sketch of prospective juror A.C. Phillips during Jack Ruby trial

Courtroom sketch of prospective juror A.C. Phillips during Jack Ruby trial

Object number2004.020.0010
Date02/24/1964
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 defense attorney Melvin Belli questioning prospective juror Albert C. Phillips during the Jack Ruby trial on February 24, 1964. Belli has one hand raised so his chin rests in his hand. Phillips is wearing glasses and has his hands in his lap. The man in the background is Judge Joe B. Brown. The caption in the top right corner reads "Phillips," and the caption in the bottom right corner reads "Jack Ruby murder trial/ Dallas Tex." The artist's signature "C. Fisher" is located at the bottom in the center of the drawing. 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
Jury selection in the Jack Ruby trial took place between February 17 and March 3, 1964. During that two-week period, 162 prospective jurors were interviewed, which District Attorney Henry Wade informed the news media was not a Dallas County record. Of the 162 individuals interviewed for the Ruby trial, twelve were accepted, eighteen were challenged by the defense team, eleven were challenged by the prosecution, sixty-two were ruled out because they were against the death penalty, fifty-eight were ruled out because they held fixed opinions on the case, and one was excused due to illness. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Albert C. Phillips was the seventh of thirteen prospective jurors interviewed on Monday, February 24, 1964. Of those thirteen, only the first person interviewed that day, Mildred McCollum, was selected for the jury. Mr. Phillips was rejected because he admitted that he had already formed an opinion about Jack Ruby's guilt or innocence and that "[i]t would take evidence to remove" or change that opinion. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator