DRAWING ON JUSTICE SKETCH ARTIST STEVE WERBLUN'S ILLUSTRATES THE ACTION AND EMOTION OF L.A.'S MOST INFAMOUS TRIALS.

Byline: Carolyn Sinclair Correspondent

Standing beside his drawing of the Nicole Brown Simpson murder scene, celebrated courtroom sketch artist Steve Werblun describes the awkward circumstances behind one of his most famous pieces.

Police would allow him only 60 seconds to study the crime scene photos. He wasn't permitted pencils or paper. He had to memorize every detail before rushing back to his sketch pad to create the image the rest of the public would see later on the evening news.

Now that sketch and others by Werblun, who has documented some of the most memorable celebrity trials since the early 1980s, will be displayed at The Basement Gallery in Echo Park through Nov. 6.

Besides the Simpson case, Werblun has covered the Rodney King, Heidi Fleiss, Reginald Denny and Richard Ramirez trials for CNN, NBC and other media outlets. He has also documented trials involving Madonna, Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith.

The exhibit depicts every human emotion in the courtroom, from anguish to boredom. One sketch shows Denise Brown, Nicole's sister, on the witness stand, sobbing as she gazes at a photo of her sister's bruised face. Another, from the Rodney King trial, depicts middle-age cops with blank facial expressions, wielding batons in stiff positions. The description reads: ``Three cops demonstrate proper use of a baton.''

The images range from simplistic realism to kitschy, celebrity caricatures. Because Werblun has captured the famous and infamous, private collectors have started to buy his work. One collector showed his set of courtroom sketches to Myk Mishoe, the owner of the Basement Gallery. That chance meeting eventually led to the current show.

``I never thought of (courtroom sketches) as art before,'' said Amanda Miller, 26, of Echo Park, who attended the gallery's Oct. 9 opening. ``Seeing (images) out of context, from so long ago, it's graphic because they're single-celled. It completely dramatizes the event.''

During the 1995 Simpson trial, the public had such a hunger for dramatization that NBC had Werblun sketch and produce a news segment depicting what O.J.'s Christmas in prison might look like. The sketched montage shows O.J. in the shower, eating turkey, and finally reading Christmas cards.

The public's fixation with Simpson pushed Werblun on the talk show circuit as the first celebrity courtroom sketch artist.

``It was the first time this sort of thing - crime and pop culture and legal proceedings - came together,'' Werblun said. ``The media whirlpool sucked everything into it - and what you see now is what came out the other end.''

The need for courtroom art stems from a conflict between the public's insatiable desire for images and the restriction of cameras in the courtroom. While the presence of cameras is determined entirely by the judge, video coverage of modern trials has grown dramatically, making the courtroom sketch a dying art.

In fact, Werblun has switched careers and is doing film storyboarding, with ``Equilibrium,'' ``Along Came Polly,'' ``Stigmata'' and ``Stuart Little 2'' among his film credits.

But some gallery patrons say traditional drawings hold a distinct advantage over moving images.

``I think your mind does more with a sketch,'' said John Mazza, 24, of Hollywood, who attended the opening. ``It's a more visceral experience than seeing it on TV.''

Some of the most emotive sketches are from the 1986 Ramirez ``Night Stalker'' case. The series shows Ramirez, slumped in his chair and fiddling with a ball-point pen during the trial.

Werblun said Ramirez would ``often thumb his nose, literally, at me, give us the finger, and make other obscene gestures,'' during the trial. The sketches attempt to capture that character for observers removed in time and distance.

``Whether (Ramirez is) sitting in Burger King or in the courtroom, he's clearly belligerent, disinterested and removed from the situation,'' says Jonathon McCoy, 29-year-old gallery visitor from Silver Lake.

Ramirez was found guilty of 19 murders and sentenced to death. He remains on Death Row. But in the sketches, he is frozen in time, mid-trial, his fate undecided.

Werblun's exhibit is more than a collection of gruesome scenes and celebrity-defendants. Each piece is a record of Los Angeles' historical and cultural identity. The collection presents the unlikely merger of legality and nostalgia shifted into the realm of artistic creation.

``I consider it art, and I'm creating it, so I know what it takes,'' Werblun said. ``Just because it's on TV, that makes it important because it's widely exposed. To have it on display, as art on its own, that's real affirmation for me, the best compliment I could ever get.''

KINDA SKETCHY: THE COURTROOM DRAWINGS OF STEVE WERBLUN

Where: The Basement Gallery, 1650 Echo Park Ave. No. 105, Los Angeles.

When: 1 to 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday; through Nov. 6.

Admission: Free.

Information: [phone].

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(1 -- 3 -- color) Steve Werblun's courtroom sketches on display at The Basement Gallery include this one above of attorneys Johnnie Cochran and Robert Shapiro with defendant O.J. Simpson at his 1995 murder trial. Left, At the Rodney King beating trial in 1992, Werblun rendered the victim on the stand, and the jury forewoman, far left, about to announce the verdict, which led to widespread rioting in L.A.