The courtroom took four minutes to return to order.
Judge Vance's gavel was not decorative. She wielded it with the specific authority of a woman who had presided over three murder trials, two congressional corruption cases, and one proceeding that had required the temporary removal of a sitting state senator from the gallery, and she was not interested in performing patience she didn't have.
"Mr. Prescott," she said, when the room had settled into the charged, electric quiet of people who were trying very hard to hear what came next. "You have made a statement that falls outside the scope of cross-examination and within the scope of testimony. I am going to offer you two options. You may take the stand as a witness and make your statement under oath, subject to cross-examination by the
