For an indigent defendant—which I was—the judge can either direct that a Federal Public Defender be assigned or turn to the ranks of what are called "panel attorneys." These are lawyers in private practice who take on indigent clients for a fraction of the rate that any well-established attorney would charge (at the time, the rate for panel attorneys was sixty dollars an hour). A panel attorney, Donald Randolph, was selected to handle my defense, and the new charges would be heard by Judge William Keller—referred to around the courthouse as "Killer Keller" because, courthouse regulars said, a defendant unfortunate enough to suffer a conviction in his courtroom, or even one who pled guilty, could expect the maximum sentence. Killer Keller was the Central District of California’s "hanging judge." He was every defendant’s worst nightmare.