"She's thirteen!" Crawford practically shouted.
"Mozart was composing symphonies at five," Maya replied calmly. "Mary Shelley wrote *Frankenstein* at eighteen. Age doesn't determine capability, Mr. Crawford. Or haven't you read *Peterson v. State Board*?"
Judge Whitmore's eyes flicked to her clerk, who was frantically looking up the case citations Maya kept dropping like breadcrumbs. Each one checked out.
"Furthermore," Maya continued, stepping forward despite Bailiff Harrison's hovering presence, "this court has a serious conflict of interest problem. Your Honor, you share a last name with Richard Whitmore III, the complainant in this case. Are you related?"
The judge's face went from red to white. "That has no bearing—"
"Ethics Rule 2.11 states that a judge shall disqualify herself in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of facts that are in dispute in the proceeding."
"How dare you!"
"I dare because my father's freedom is at stake!" Maya shot back. "I dare because the public defender assigned to him has met with him for exactly ten minutes and suggested he plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit! I dare because justice isn't just a word carved into marble buildings—it's supposed to mean something!"
The gallery was mesmerized. Several people were livestreaming now, and the bailiffs didn't seem to know whether to stop them or not. Marcus Thompson watched his daughter with a mixture of terror and awe.
"Maya, sweetheart, you don't have to—"
"Yes, I do, Daddy." She turned to him, and for a moment, she was just a scared 13-year-old. Then she straightened her shoulders and became something more. "You taught me that the law is supposed to protect everyone equally. Time to test that theory."
Crawford tried another approach. "Your Honor, even if we entertained this absurd notion, the girl has no legal training, no bar certification, no standing."
"I've been studying law for three years," Maya interrupted. "While my father cleaned your offices, Mr. Crawford, I read every book in the Whitmore and Associates library. I've memorized the Michigan Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and roughly three hundred relevant case precedents. Would you like me to quiz you on any of them?"
That got a nervous chuckle from the gallery. Crawford's reputation for coasting on his assistant's work was well known.
"As for certification," Maya continued, "Lincoln taught himself law and never went to law school. Neither did John Marshall, Clarence Darrow, or Robert H. Jackson. The bar exam is a modern invention, not a constitutional requirement."