More than two months after being arrested on charges that he imprisoned a woman in a sexual torture chamber, Jeffrey Allan Maxwell finally got a lawyer.

Maxwell, 58, appeared in the Parker County district courthouse Wednesday morning to be arraigned on two charges of aggravated sexual assault and one of aggravated kidnapping. He could face life in prison if found guilty.

All the charges stem from March 12, when Texas Rangers and Parker County Sheriff’s deputies rescued a 62 year old former neighbor of Maxwell’s from his Corsicana house. The father or two is also suspected in the disappearance of his second wife, Martha Martinez Maxwell, when the couple lived in Fort Worth 19 years ago.

At 6-foot-3 and 256 pounds, Maxwell towered over two officers who led him through the courtroom in chains and grey prison stripes. He told Judge Trey Loftin he understood the charges.

When Maxwell last appeared in the courthouse, to request a court-appointed attorney in March, the judge sent him into the backroom with a phone book. He said Maxwell, who in recent years reportedly lived on disability checks and a settlement from a motorcycle accident, has about $200,000 in property and other assets, enough to hire his own lawyer.

“Have you?” the judge asked Wednesday.

“Not yet,” said Maxwell.

“Why not?”

Maxwell thought for a moment. “Because, um, I don’t have the cash. And I’d have to sell my house before I hired them.”

The judge became stern, “Your right to have an attorney is very important,” he said. “But not so important it will slow down justice. Do you know that?”

“Not really,” said Maxwell, sounding confused.

“The court feels you are obstructing justice by not hiring an attorney,” said the judge. “The law requires you to hire that attorney.”

After warning Maxwell that the county could sue him to force him to hire a lawyer, the judge instead appointed Richard Alley as a “conditional” attorney.

The judge said Alley would help Maxwell sell off a tract of land, some stocks, and even personal property to help pay for his defense, a process that must be completed in 20 days or Maxwell will waive his right to an attorney.

If there was any money left over after jail, the judge said, Maxwell would get it back.

Maxwell replied, “Fine by me” – a phrase he would repeat several times throughout the 15 minute hearing.

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