Hours pass in the dark little cell before the door rattles and opens. Two uniformed guards, different men then the ones who admitted and abused 71 earlier stand in the doorway. “Get up†the taller of the two men says waving his nightstick to enforce the order. The second man fingers a taser at his belt, seeming almost eager to use it.
The first guard barks more orders, “move; now turn around!†Not waiting for the prisoner to move, he drags her from the bed by her hair and turns her around, slamming her into the wall. Moving quickly he pinions her arms behind her back and cuffs her wrist in steel.
“Move†the guard says pushing the young woman toward the cell door and almost dragging her down the hallways to a small dim room behind a thick steel door. In the room is a single steel chair bolted to the floor beneath the only light suspended from the ceiling. The guards push 71 roughly into the chair and stand aside. Before the chair is a television set and above it is the eye of a television camera, a red light upon it glowing in the semi-darkness.
The television suddenly lights up and the visage of a harsh looking woman in a judge’s robe appears, seemingly staring directly at 71 sitting in her cold metal chair. The talking head on the screen begins to speak:
“The defendant has been charged with murder, kidnapping, carjacking using a deadly weapon, attempted murder of a correctional officer, assaulting a correctional officer, possession of deadly weapon and smuggling that same weapon into a correctional facility, plus assorted misdemeanors. Having refused court offered counsel, how do you pled?â€
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