”On your plea of guilty the court finds you guilty and sentences you to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”

Glass then lowered his glasses to the end of his nose and leaned forward. His eyes bored into Johnny Wayne.

”Just for the record,” the judge said, ”I want to tell you something before they trot you off to the penitentiary for the rest of your miserable existence.

In all my years on the bench, you are, without question, the most disgusting, the most cowardly, the most pitiful excuse for a human being that has ever set foot in my court. There isn’t an ounce of remorse in you, and I want you to know that it would have been my distinct pleasure to sentence you to death if you’d had the courage to go to trial. I hope you rot in hell.”

Johnny Wayne’s head rose slowly, and he met the judge’s gaze.

”Fuck you,” he said quietly.

Glass’s eyes widened. ”What did you say?”

”I said fuck you, and the district attorney, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and this pathetic excuse for a lawyer you dumped on me, and everybody else who had a hand in framing me.” The words spilled out in a crescendo. By the time he finished, his voice was echoing off the walls.

There was a stunned silence. The judge surprised me by smiling. He turned his head to me.

”Not only is your client a coward, Mr. Dillard, he’s a stupid coward.”

”Fuck you!” Johnny Wayne yelled.

”Bailiffs!” Judge Glass roared. He half rose from his seat, like a jockey on a Thoroughbred, and pointed his gavel at Johnny Wayne.

”Take him out and gag him!”

They were on him in a second. Two of them took him down and another two jumped into the fray. I could hear the cameras clicking and people gasping as I moved out of the way. Johnny Wayne was screaming obscenities as they punched and kicked at him. The bailiffs finally got enough control so they could drag Johnny Wayne across the floor by his feet and out the door. I sat down at the defense table and wondered briefly whether I should be offended that Johnny Wayne had called me a pathetic excuse for a lawyer. I was a pathetic excuse for a human being, maybe, but I was a pretty damned good lawyer.