KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | Courtroom Artist Chronicles Big Cases: Dave Hawk

Courtroom Artist Chronicles Big Cases: Dave Hawk

By Clint Olivier and Winston Whitehurst

So what does accused Hanford murderer Dave Hawk have in common with Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson and the Unabomber?

He's joined the list of big-name defendants who have had their trial chronicled by a very gifted and talented artist.

Reporters get mad when judges tell newspeople cameras are not welcome in the courtroom.

But it means Vicki Behringer gets to pay the bills another month.

"And I'm very happy about that, because there's a lot of times the cameras are let in, actually more often than not the cameras are let in," she said.

For the past five days, Vicki has worked the murder trial of Dave Hawk at the Kings County Superior Courthouse in Hanford.

She pumps out up to eight pictures a day.

"I like how fast-paced it is. I like being able to be under pressure and capture that image really quickly and without thinking," she said.

Vicky makes her living sketching both lesser-known in addition to high profile cases.

Among the biggest, she has sketched Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, Barry Bonds, even the Unabomber Ted Kacinsky.

Vicki starts with a pencil drawing:

"And I get basically what I want to draw, then I put ink into it, erase the pencil, and right there in the courtroom where I'm sitting I have a way of painting in watercolors," she said.

Here's prosecutor larry crouch in the flesh, the rough drawing, and the finished product.

Not bad.

Vicky says courtroom art is a very specialized business.

There are only two or three other people in the state who do what she does.

Vicki started out wanting to do fashion art, but she's been in the courtroom for nearly 20 years.

"I'm not the type of artist who likes to stay home and stay in my studio all day," she said.

And for Vicki, her life's work never gets old.

"When I sat down in the courtroom for the first time, I knew this is exactly where I was supposed to be and I really enjoy it," she said.

www.courtroomartist.com