Photojournalist - Mark Hertzberg - Behind the Viewfinder

Cameras in the Courts

November 18, 1998 Our big story last week, indeed perhaps our biggest of the year, was a story about something that DIDN'T happen.

November 16, 1998 Did We Overact?

October 10, 1998 He's a cop...

September 11, 1998 ...sometimes we can have a positive effect on people's lives even when some readers think we are raking them over the coals.

July 25, 1998 They say that in England you are innocent until proven guilty; in France you are guilty until proven innocent; and in America you are innocent until the next edition of the newspaper flies off the presses or the evening news comes on.

July 7, 1998 Delgado, who sat in his orange county jail jumpsuit, had tears streaming down his face as he listened to the charges being read the day after his nine-month old son died on a hot summer day, strapped in his car seat, in the backseat of Delgado's broiling Dodge Omni

September 11, 1998

It's almost Midnight, and as I think back about this tumultuous news day - the Starr report was released today - I remember a phone message left on my voice mail at 1:30 this afternoon. It was a short message, but it meant enough to me to press *4, or Save, when I finished listening to it.

It came on the day I celebrated my 20th anniversary at the Journal Times. I had brought kringle (a local Danish pastry treat) for my colleagues in the newsroom, but I thought there should be a more significant way to mark the day. I just didn't know what it should be. It was that phone call.

That message was one of those things that reminds me that this profession is a privilege to be part of, and that sometimes we can have a positive effect on people's lives even when some readers think we are raking them over the coals.

I had covered Paul LeRose's sentencing on a theft conviction yesterday. LeRose was charged with theft for overbilling the state for his work as a public defender. While most sentencing hearings last an hour or two, this one lasted almost four hours.

I had known Paul since his days as a parttime sports writer at the Journal Times 20 years ago, and for years I had been aware of his record of theft and lies. He had given a false name - that of a friend - when arrested for shoplifting while in law school in 1985, and he had been accused of stealing from law firms where he had worked. He lost his license to practice law several years ago, and now was facing prison time. He describes himself as a manic depressive whose illness was misdiagnosed, and blames his illness for his destructive actions.

Paul had backed out of a plea agreement on one theft charge, and so he went to trial on two theft charges. He was stunned when the judge revoked his bond immediately upon conviction, alluding that he considered LeRose to be a flight risk before sentencing. LeRose was always well-dressed at his court appearances, but he had to take his necktie off then, before being led to the county jail and trading his good clothes for an orange jail jumpsuit. He was wearing those jail clothes as we faced each other again at his sentencing. This case has fascinated me, but I have sometimes felt awkward covering it, because it is the first case in which I have known the defendant. I had to call Paul's mother the day after his conviction to discuss some unrelated reprints she had ordered for a research paper she is writing. I had hoped to avoid any discussion of the case, but the subject came up when she thanked me for what she thought had been fair coverage by the newspaper. I told her I felt bad for her for what she was going through, and we had a cordial conversation.

Paul's parents, two of his brothers, his employer, a woman named Deanna Meyers, and her brother, were at the sentencing to speak on his behalf or lend him their support. When LeRose made his remarks at the end of the four-hour hearing, he said that in truth he and Deanna, who had been referred to several times as his "fiance," were husband and wife, because they had been married at the jail two days earlier. The judge was stunned, and said the news had a smell of convenient timing to it.

The state asked for a seven year prison sentence. The defense asked for a year at the county jail, perhaps with work release privileges. The judge imposed a five year prison sentence, and ordered LeRose to pay some $58,000 restitution to the state.

I rushed to the hallway after the sentencing to get a picture of LeRose being led past his family, shackled. I saw him stop to kiss his new wife, and fired off some pictures. I took one more as he passed by his father and his brothers in the hallway. He turned and looked at me, and then came the confrontation I had expected since the first time I took his picture in court. "How many more do you need, you goddamn vulture?" he yelled. I said nothing. His father told him to be quiet.

I selected two photos to run in the paper and didn't think anymore about the case until I checked my messages this afternoon.

"This message is for Mark Hertzberg. It's (Paul's mother). I want to thank you for those pictures. They made me cry, but they did show that he is not a monster. Thank you."

September 11, 1998

Mark Hertzberg

Paul LeRose kisses Deanna Meyers whom he married Tuesday September 8 at the Racine County Jail, after Judge Michael Gibbs sentenced him to five years in prison on theft charges, Thursday September 10, 1998 in Walworth County Circuit Court in Elkhorn, Wis.. LeRose was accused of overbilling the state for his work as a public defender. He was also ordered to make $58,000 restitution to the state. His brother, Jim, looks on, and a Racine County sheriff's deputy waits to take him back to the Racine County Jail. Photo by Mark Hertzberg - Racine Journal Times ©1998

Mark Hertzberg

< hertz@wi.net >
Director of Photography
Journal Times
Racine, Wisconsin

Other journals by Mark Hertzberg

363	May 2000	Three short topics
361	April 27, 2000	It's a moment frozen forever
359	April 18, 2000	I'm glad I wasn't working
346	February 18, 2000	Fatal Fire
343	January 28, 2000	Suicide By Cop
340	December 28, 1999	Four Minute Justice
338	December 11, 1999	In 1/125th of a second
336	December 4, 1999	Day in Court
332	Is Photojournalism Dead?Mark Hertzberg	On the flip side, though, many newspapers that have made a 180-degree change have changed for the better rather than for the worse
325	October 10, 1999	Oh, the people you meet
324	September 29, 1999	It was an innocent question from a high school clerk
309	July 23, 1999	I didn't mind Jerome Vine spit at me twice
307	July 21, 1999	"What have you done? What have you dragged us into?"
303	July 17, 1999	If your mother says she loves you, check it out
292	June 23, 1999	You Never Know
283	May 17, 1999	Epilogue to May 4, 1999
276	May 4, 1999	David Raymond Segura, Sr. walked out of the Racine County Jail to the cheers and hugs of his family
272	April 25, 1999	Littleton. Burlington.
265	April 18, 1999	"I can't believe I'm being paid to have fun. "
261	April 15, 1999	It was the first time...
257	March 26, 1999	The Supreme Court isn't sure I should have been able to shoot one of the most dramatic pictures I've ever taken.
248	March 13, 1999	I got nauseous on the job today...
247	March 12, 1999	The prosecution's case
246	March 12, 1999	Sidebar: One of the most difficult issues for us to consider
239	March 1, 1999	That's your guy.
222	February 11, 1999	It's a lie to say that pictures never lie, as our readers and viewers know all too well.
215	February 4, 1999	Remember report cards?
213	February 1, 1999	I saw something horrifying and shocking this week
198	January 8, 1999	Damn, it's hard to cover news stories when you know the people involved in them, and when you have to put aside personal feelings to get the story.
192	December, 1998	This journal is a tribute to you, the reader
180	November 29, 1998	Abortion. That's the only word you have to mention in any conversation, and emotions are aroused , so imagine what it's like trying to make newsroom decisions about how to cover the issue. That's where we found ourselves Thursday morning at the Racine Journal Times.
178	November 22, 1998	We Interrupt This Broadcast
176	November 18, 1998	Our big story last week, indeed perhaps our biggest of the year, was a story about something that DIDN'T happen.
175	November 16, 1998	Did We Overact?
174	November 8, 1998	Wednesday was the day the yellow smiley face from that big chain of stores from Arkansas frowned at me.
171	November 3, 1998	Monday Morning, Post Gore
170	November 2, 1998	I'm so excited, I won't be able to sleep tonight
158	October 12, 1998	It was one of those days when an assignment was as much fun as opening birthday presents.
157	October 10, 1998	He's a cop...
150	September 21, 1998	A friend of mine calls it the ultimate form of channel surfing. .
146	September 11, 1998	...sometimes we can have a positive effect on people's lives even when some readers think we are raking them over the coals. .
138	August 28, 1998	Sometimes the last thing a photographer wants to see is a camera.
120	July 25, 1998	They say that in England you are innocent until proven guilty; in France you are guilty until proven innocent; and in America you are innocent until the next edition of the newspaper flies off the presses or the evening news comes on.
111	July 12, 1998	We joke that today's newspaper is tomorrow's fish wrap. But for many people, our work lives on beyond just that day's paper.
109	July 7, 1998	Delgado, who sat in his orange county jail jumpsuit, had tears streaming down his face as he listened to the charges being read the day after his nine-month old son died on a hot summer day, strapped in his car seat, in the backseat of Delgado's broiling Dodge Omni
101	June 23, 1998	We've never shown the readers this sunset view of the city before...if all goes well, it'll stretch across Wednesday morning's front page. Today is Monday, though, and they first have to get through Tuesday's newspaper.
100	June 22, 1998	Last week I had the tables turned on me
87	June 4, 1998	..none of those pictures would have been published without his help.
82	May 29, 1998	Today was one of those days in which you hit the lows and the highs.
78	May 26, 1998	You never know where a pair of dirty socks will take you
73	May 17, 1998	I no longer have to hide under semi-trailer trucks to shoot news pictures of major industries..
67	April 24, 1998	Stop the Presses
63	April 19, 1998	Sign of Discontent
43	March 24, 1998	Humphrey Bogart, move over.
42	March 23, 1998	In the end, only one photo was important...
32	February 27, 1998	My work has now been published in a new media...on a picket sign
28	February 24, 1998	Journalists usually love a good juicy story. I'm in the middle of covering one I hate. Part 3 February 23, 1998 Journalists usually love a good juicy story. I'm in the middle of covering one I hate. Part 2
22	February 20, 1998	Journalists usually love a good juicy story. I'm in the middle of covering one I hate. Part 1
13	February 4, 1998 (9:24 AM)	It was a situation where one has to shoot pictures first, and ask questions later Update: To Mark's February 4 posting
7	January 27, 1998	The viewfinder in our cameras is dark for the split second we shoot our photos...
5	January 23, 1998	Just what is news?
3	January 19, 1998	An 83-year-old reader called me this morning, in tears. .

Contributor since 1998