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Courtroom sketch of defense attorney Joe Tonahill at Jack Ruby trial
Courtroom sketch of defense attorney Joe Tonahill at Jack Ruby trial

Courtroom sketch of defense attorney Joe Tonahill at Jack Ruby trial

Object number2004.020.0013
DateFebruary 1964 - March 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 Joe Tonahill during the Jack Ruby trial in February or March of 1964. Ruby's defense attorneys, including Melvin Belli, are seated at the attorney's table, which is covered in papers and books. Joe Tonahill is standing in the foreground holding a pencil in one hand. A group of indistinct figures are visible in the background. The caption in the top right corner reads "Tonahill/ Belli," and the caption in the bottom right corner reads "Defense attorney/ Jack Ruby murder trial." On the opposite side of the paper is an unfinished sketch of a man's head and shoulders. It is unlabeled, and the identity of the man is unknown. The artist, 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
Colorful Jasper, Texas, attorney Joe Halbert Tonahill, Sr. (1913-2001) was co-founder of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Although well known in Jasper, Tonahill was lifted to national prominence by his longtime friend Melvin Belli when Belli hired the six-foot-four native Texan as his defense co-counsel. Tonahill recorded an oral history with The Sixth Floor Museum on August 9, 1996. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator