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Photograph of courtroom sketch of Dr. Roy Shafer testifying during Ruby trial
Photograph of courtroom sketch of Dr. Roy Shafer testifying during Ruby trial

Photograph of courtroom sketch of Dr. Roy Shafer testifying during Ruby trial

Object number2019.026.0010
Date03/10/1964
ClassificationsArt
Artist Woodi Ishmael
ObjectCourtroom sketch
Credit LineThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection
MediumPaper, Photo
Dimensions8 1/2 × 10 in. (21.6 × 25.4 cm)
Collections
DescriptionPhotograph of courtroom pencil sketch on paper by Associated Press courtroom artist Woodi Ishmael. The sketch shows Dr. Roy Shafer during the Jack Ruby trial on March 10, 1964. The sketch shows Dr. Shafer seated at the witness stand with a microphone positioned in front of him. Defense attorney Melvin Belli is standing in front of the witness stand, towards the right of the image. Judge Joe B. Brown is seated at the judge's bench in the center of the image with Jack Ruby visible seated with his attorneys directly below him. The sketch was done from the back of the courtroom, so a number of members of the public and reporters are visible seated on benches facing the front of the courtroom. A typed caption reads: "(DN13) Dallas, Tex., March 10-- Courtroom Scene in Ruby Trial-- This sketch by Artist Woodi Ishmael depicts the scene in Criminal District Court in Dallas where Jack Ruby is on trial for the slaying of Lee Harvey Oswald. Chief defense attorney Melvin Belli, standing at right, questions Dr. Roy Shafer, a Yale Univ. psychologist. Judge Joe B. Brown is on the bench and below is the defendant, Jack Ruby (AP Wirephoto Sketch)" Ishmael's signature "Woodi Ishmael" is located in the lower left corner of the sketch. Ishmael made the original sketches for the Associated Press during the trial of Jack Ruby after the judge barred cameras from the courtroom.
Curatorial Commentary
In addition to covering the Jack Ruby trial as a sketch artist for the Associated Press, artist Woodi Ishmael (1914-1995) illustrated more than thirty-five books, painted portraits of fifty-four Air Medal of Honor winners, served as artist-in-residence aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth 2 and illustrated for a number of publications, including the Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan and National Geographic. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Dr. Roy Schafer, a Yale University clinical psychologist, was the Ruby defense's first expert witness. After spending more than eleven hours with Ruby, Dr. Schafer concluded that he had "organic brain damage" and stated that Ruby most likely suffered from a condition known as psychomotor epilepsy. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator