The younger man with the phone said he had begun recording only after he heard the argument. His footage did not capture the entire exchange, but it appeared to show the moment immediately after Claire was struck.
Margaret asked him not to edit the original file and explained that the appropriate personnel would arrange to receive a copy.
As each witness spoke, Victor became more withdrawn.
He had initially assumed that the people around him would either ignore the confrontation or accept his description of events. Instead, several of them were willing to explain what they had seen.
Their statements were not identical, but none of the accounts provided an obvious justification for the slap.
Margaret eventually returned to Victor.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Officer Hayes, I need to ask you about the woman you said you were looking for. What was her name?"
Victor cleared his throat.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "Maya Reynolds."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Did you have a photograph of Ms. Reynolds?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "No."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Did you have a warrant or written instruction authorizing you to detain her?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I had information from the case."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "That wasn't my question. Did you have a warrant or a written instruction?"
Victor's jaw tightened.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "Not with me."
Margaret wrote down his answer.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Did you confirm the information with the court clerk before approaching Judge Bennett?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "No. I believed I had the right person."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "What specifically made you believe that?"
Victor hesitated again.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "The description I received."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Describe the information you received. Who gave it to you, and when?"
Victor looked toward the courtroom doors.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Claire noticed the hesitation. It was different from the defensiveness she had seen earlier. This time, Victor seemed to be considering how much information he should disclose.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I was told that the woman might come through this part of the building."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Who told you that?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "A colleague."
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Which colleague?"
Victor rubbed his thumb against the side of his uniform belt.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I'd have to check the message."
Margaret closed her notebook briefly.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "Then the message needs to be preserved and reviewed. We cannot establish the basis for your actions from a description you cannot identify."
Victor's eyes flickered toward Claire.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I didn't come here intending to cause trouble."
JUDGE CLAIRE BENNETT: "No one is asking you to describe what you intended when you entered the building. We are asking what information you relied on, what you verified, and why you chose to use force."
Victor looked down.
For the first time, he appeared to understand that repeating his intention was not answering the questions being asked.
Margaret instructed a staff member to document the source of Victor's assignment and identify any relevant communications. She also requested that the officer's body-camera status be verified through the appropriate department procedure.
The matter was becoming more complicated than a simple claim of mistaken identity.
If Victor had received inaccurate information, investigators would need to determine how it had reached him and whether he had been given a reliable basis for approaching anyone.
If he had misunderstood the information, they would need to establish why he had failed to check it.
And if the information itself had been incomplete or misleading, the records might reveal where the breakdown had occurred.
None of those possibilities excused the physical assault.
They simply raised additional questions that needed answers.
Claire asked Margaret to ensure that the incident report distinguished between what witnesses had directly observed and what Victor had claimed about his assignment. She did not want assumptions to be repeated as facts merely because they had been written into an official document.
SECURITY SUPERVISOR MARGARET ELLIS: "I'll make sure the report identifies each source of information and records what remains unverified."
JUDGE CLAIRE BENNETT: "Good. We need a clear record, not a convenient explanation."
Margaret nodded and returned to her notes.
Henry, meanwhile, had contacted the appropriate court administrator to report the incident. He explained that a uniformed officer had struck Judge Bennett in a public corridor and that security was preserving evidence.
The administrator requested that the original surveillance recordings be secured immediately and that the matter be referred to the relevant supervisory authorities.
No one was to erase, overwrite, or casually circulate the footage. Any review would need to follow the established process.
As Henry finished the call, Claire glanced toward the courtroom doors.
The morning's proceedings were due to begin soon. Lawyers were arriving, clerks were preparing files, and members of the public were waiting to hear their cases.