Golantz shook his head and tried to maintain his composure.

“Judge, from the start of this trial, the defense has relied on trickery and deception to—”

“Mr. Golantz,” the judge interrupted, “don’t say something you can’t back up and that will get you in trouble. This witness, just like the first one Mr. Haller called, has been on this list for two weeks. Right there in black-and-white. You had every opportunity to find out what these people were going to say. If you didn’t take that opportunity, then that was your decision. But this is not trickery or deception. You better watch yourself.”

Golantz stood with his head bowed for a moment before speaking.

“Your Honor, the state requests a brief recess,” he finally said in a quiet voice.

“How brief?”

“Until one o’clock.”

“I wouldn’t call two hours brief, Mr. Golantz.”

“Your Honor,” I cut in. “I object to any recess. He just wants to grab my witness and turn his testimony.”

“Now that I object to,” Golantz said.

“Look, no recess, no delay and no more bickering,” the judge said. “We’ve already lost most of the morning. Objection overruled. Step back.”

We returned to our places and I played a thirty-second cut of the video showing the handcuffed man being placed in the back of the 4-alpha car at Malibu Creek State Park. I froze the image in the same spot as before, just as the car was speeding by the camera. I left it on the screen as I continued my direct examination.

“Deputy Stallworth, is that you driving that car?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Who is the man in the backseat?”

“His name is Eli Wyms.”

“I noticed that he was handcuffed before being placed in the car. Is that because he was under arrest?”

“Yes, he was.”

“What was he arrested for?”

“For trying to kill me, for one. He was also charged with unlawful discharge of a weapon.”

“How many counts of unlawful discharge of a weapon?”

“I can’t recall the exact number.”

“How about ninety-four?”

“That sounds about right. It was a lot. He shot the place up out there.”

Stallworth was tired and subdued but unhesitant in his answers. He had no idea how they fit into the Elliot case and didn’t seem to care about trying to protect the prosecution with short, nonresponsive answers. He was probably mad at Golantz for not getting him out of testifying.

“So you arrested him and took him to the nearby Malibu station?”

“No, I transported him all the way to the county jail in downtown, where he could be placed on the psych level.”

“How long did that take? The drive, I mean.”

“About an hour.”

“And then you drove back to Malibu?”