Courtroom sketch of juror Robert Fletchner being questioned at Jack Ruby trial

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Courtroom sketch of juror Robert Fletchner being questioned at Jack Ruby trial

Courtroom pencil sketch on paper by Charles Fisher. The sketch shows prospective juror Robert Fletchner during the Jack Ruby trial on February 26, 1964. Fletchner is holding his coat in his lap while a microphone sits in front of him. The man in the background is Judge Joe B. Brown. The caption in the top right corner reads "Fletcher selected," 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 right under the sketch. 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.

Object Details
Object title:

Courtroom sketch of juror Robert Fletchner being questioned at Jack Ruby trial

Date:

02/26/1964

Medium:

Paper

Dimensions:

14 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm)

Credit line:

Chuck Fisher Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

Object number:

2004.020.0011

Curatorial Note:

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

At age 27 in 1964, Robert Jacob Flechtner, Jr. (misspelled as "Fletcher" on this sketch) was the youngest person selected to serve on the Jack Ruby trial jury. Following the October 2020 passing of J. Waymon Rose, Flechtner is believed to be the last surviving juror from the trial. Although reluctant to talk about his experiences as a juror over the years, Flechtner did participate in a rare audio interview with researcher John Mark Dempsey in 1998 for his book, The Jack Ruby Trial Revisited (2000). That recording is part of the Museum's Dr. John Mark Dempsey Collection (2014.019). -- Stephen Fagin, Curator

Courtroom sketch of juror Robert Fletchner being questioned at Jack Ruby trial

Courtroom pencil sketch on paper by Charles Fisher. The sketch shows prospective juror Robert Fletchner during the Jack Ruby trial on February 26, 1964. Fletchner is holding his coat in his lap while a microphone sits in front of him. The man in the background is Judge Joe B. Brown. The caption in the top right corner reads "Fletcher selected," 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 right under the sketch. 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.

Object Details
Object title:

Courtroom sketch of juror Robert Fletchner being questioned at Jack Ruby trial

Date:

02/26/1964

Terms:

Artist

Sketches

Trials

Jury

Artwork

Jack Ruby trial

Brown, Judge Joe B.

Fisher, Charles

Flechtner, Robert

KRLD-TV

Dallas

Medium:

Paper

Dimensions:

14 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm)

Credit line:

Chuck Fisher Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

Object number:

2004.020.0011

Curatorial Note:

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

At age 27 in 1964, Robert Jacob Flechtner, Jr. (misspelled as "Fletcher" on this sketch) was the youngest person selected to serve on the Jack Ruby trial jury. Following the October 2020 passing of J. Waymon Rose, Flechtner is believed to be the last surviving juror from the trial. Although reluctant to talk about his experiences as a juror over the years, Flechtner did participate in a rare audio interview with researcher John Mark Dempsey in 1998 for his book, The Jack Ruby Trial Revisited (2000). That recording is part of the Museum's Dr. John Mark Dempsey Collection (2014.019). -- Stephen Fagin, Curator