(NewsNation) — Sketch artist Christine Cornell was all set to go home after another day of the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump. But the jury last Thursday had other ideas.
“I was just on the verge of … wrapping up my ‘no verdict’ drawing, and all of a sudden, I had to start all over again.”
“It was “a real crazy moment” when the verdict actually came down,” she said. “It was unbelievable pressure. I had to go out and finish my drawing in the hall because … they threw us out (of the courtroom).”
Cornell told NewsNation’s “Morning in America” that everyone in the courtroom, including the defendant, were “stunned” at the verdict.
“Mr. Trump, himself, looked a little bit stunned. As he passed me his arms were flailing a little bit like he could not believe this had happened.”
Cornell’s been sketching trials since the late 1970s. She covered the trials of “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman, “subway vigilante” Bernard Goetz, hotel tycoon Leona Helmsley, mob boss John Gotti, investment fraudster Bernie Maddoff and former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos.
“Every drawing just represents a particular process that is, you know, part of the story that night,” she said.
Because the sightlines in the packed Trump courtroom were difficult, Cornell had to rely on fleeting glimpses of Trump.
“I would memorize him as he walked past me. I burned that image into my brain so deeply that I’d wake up in the middle of the night and Trump would walk by my bed. And I’d go ‘go away, Mr. Trump!’”