Day 2 Waiting for a Verdict in the Noor Salman Trial

Posted on by Thor

I arrived at the Orlando Federal Courthouse bright and early and decided to sketch the TV News cameras set up outside waiting for the verdict in the Noor Salman trial. It felt good to sketch outside after being cooped up in court for a solid month. The phalanx grew as I sketched and then a tripod was set up with all the microphones waiting for an announcement. A few reporters were curious about what I was doing and were pleased to see themselves in sketch form. I was hoping that the jury would be deliberating for a few more hours so that I had plenty of time to sketch. With the sketch complete I decided to get inside to continue waiting. Shoes and belt came off as I went through the security metal detectors. I usually don’t redress since there is a second security check at the courtroom entrance, but I was heading up to the media room today to wait.

The media room has a refrigerator, microwave and a sink, so it is quite civilized. Several reporters had ordered bagels. The channel 9 reporter across from me Ken Tyndall showed me a sketch that had been done of him by a Saint Augustine artist. It depicted him as a bad ass pirate. On top of that I knew the hand of the artist. It was done by Orlando artist KC Cali. I told him the artists name, but it didn’t seem to register.

A female reporter with immense eyelashes and plenty of mascara sat next to me. Her laptop was covered with stickers. One said something about Jihad. I was the outsider in the room, so I assumed she had been coming to this media room throughout the trial. This sketch was pretty far along, so I couldn’t place her in the scene. Her head would have been about where the bagel is and that is the center of interest. Ken Tyndall shot a cell phone photo of her and the laptop and sent it to other reporters in the courthouse.

The previous evening I had received a e-mail from the court saying that a member of the media had been banned from the courthouse for harassing members of Noor Salman’s family as they walked to their cars. As she said, “When I confronted her family outside the courthouse and asked
them if “Jihad” is an act of terrorism, they REFUSED to answer!”To me these actions read as bigotry masked as journalism. The media were reminded that interviews must be conducted in specific designated locations. It turned out that this was the blogger who had been evicted from court and she returned anyway the next day. The photo tipped off security and soon a US Marshall entered the media room and asked the woman seated next to me to “Come with me.”

She was escorted downstairs and back outside the courtroom. A second hand report claims that she wanted to shoot cell phone footage as she was being escorted out but the US Marshall took her phone until she was back outside. The same Marshall had confiscated a sketch I started of the courthouse lobby. My sketch showed the entry security system so I fully understood his concerns and gave him the unfinished sketches after I signed it. The female blogger stood outside the courthouse all afternoon shooting cell phone footage she posed online demanding her first amendment rights had been violated. I have to agree with the judges ruling that these rights do not include harassing family of the person on trial. She claimed that the media looked down on her by referring to her as a blogger. Personally I am proud to be a blogger. It allows me to freedom to report on this trial visually in a way that no other media outlet can match. The tight court rules were restrictive, but I worked within those restrictions to report during the entire length of the trial.

Giddy Up Go at the Wedding of KC and Bob.

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After the quick wedding of KC Cali and Bob Szafranski in the back room at Elixir (9 W Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801), the wedding party moved up into the bar area. There the order of business was socializing and Country music. Giddy Up Go began to perform on the small stage at the front of the room. Most guests kept their distance and shouted above the music. I talked to the artists that KC had invited. Then I walked into the bar to survey the scene. I’m recently separated, I should work the room and try and meet some new people. I never quite feel comfortable in loud shouting matches at bars.  Instead, I nestled up close to the band, leaned against a pillar and sketched. Any stress melted away.

Kelly and Courtney Jean Canova arrived during the reception, and began to shoot wedding photos. The large group family photos were shot just to my left. I had to watch my feet to avoid tripping anyone up. Two women at the end of the bar were loving the music. They shouted and whooped. I was surprised no one danced while I was working on the sketch. I tapped my toes the whole time. There is something reassuring about Old time country music. You don’t have to think too hard.

Giddy Up Go’s music hearkens back to the style of country that was played in smokey
ol’ honky tonk bars for patrons tryin’ to forget their troubles. From
Waylon to Willie, from Buck Owens to Hank Williams, they travel back
down that “lonesome highway”.

I had to rush off to Hamburger Mary’s to meet and sketch a survivor of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. It was a whirlwind day of celebration and reflection of unity, love, and loss.

Wedding of KC Cali and Bob Szafranski

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KC Cali is a local artist who is a member of Orlando Urban Sketches. Her paintings range from country scenes to bold and large nudes. She and Bob Szafranski have been together for years, through rough times and good times. She confided that when Bob asked her to marry him she cried. As she put it, this wasn’t her first rodeo. She has two daughters from her first marriage, Kit and Liz Cali. Both girls have left the nest and are making their own way in the world. Bob also has a daughter from his first marriage.

The wedding was at Elixir downtown (9 W Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801). There is a quaint, barn like room in the back of the bar. KC warned me that the we did was going to be fast, no more than 7 minutes. What?! I usually take two hours to finish a sketch! I immediately sat down and started blocking in the room. KC’s daughter Liz, was thankfully 20 minutes late which bought me the time needed to set the scene.

When the wedding march finally began, everyone stood and turned to watch the bride walk down the aisle. I kept sketching. Every one kept standing through the entire ceremony. I was faced with a wall of backs. I decided to move my seat out in to the aisle. I was probably a fire hazard but, I had a sketch to finish.

It is reassuring to see a couple reach out to each other once again putting their faith and hopes in marriage. Life is short. We all need to believe in the power of love.