Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney/Episode 4: Turnabout Goodbyes/Day 2 - Trial

You learn from Miles Edgeworth the name of the prosecutor: Manfred von Karma. He is considered a god of prosecutors. Throughout the 40 years of his career, von Karma has never lost a single case, or so he claims. von Karma would do just about anything to make the guilty verdict and he means anything! He even taught Edgeworth what it means to "prosecute".

You ask Maya to call on Mia's spirit for help. But unfortunately, she hasn't been training at all which is why in this turnabout, Phoenix has no choice but to rely on his allies and his instincts to get through the trial due to his lack of experience.

The trial begins
After a shocking intro from von Karma, whose opening statements tell you he has decisive evidence and a decisive witness, Gumshoe takes the stand and describes the events of the day of the murder.


 * The murder happened late Christmas Eve, around midnight.
 * There was one boat in the very middle of the lake.
 * There were two men on the boat.
 * Now, there happened to be a woman camping there on the edge of the lake.
 * At 12:10 AM, she heard two pistol shots.
 * Then the boat started to move.
 * It went towards the Boat Rental Shop.

The Overhead Map will be added to your Court Record. von Karma demands that Gumshoe testify to the court about the arrest. The Judge says that isn't von Karma's job, however von Karma insults the judge by telling him his job is to slam the gavel down and say the word "Guilty". The judge agrees. This doesn't look good.

It looks like von Karma has great knowledge of court proceedings and is very controlling of the court process for the first part. The Judge has no choice but to go along for now. Pray there is a shred of miracle somewhere.

The Arrest of Edgeworth: Cross-examination
von Karma demands that you begin cross-examining.

Press him on his fifth statement. Gumshoe will show the bullet that was in the body. The Pistol Bullet will be added to the Court Record. Now press him on his sixth statement. Gumshoe says they found the pistol on the boat. The judge orders Gumshoe to add a new statement:
 * "The murder weapon we found on the boat was decisive evidence."

Press him on that statement. von Karma will laugh at you, just like Edgeworth did once. It turns out, Edgeworth's fingerprints from his right hand were on the pistol. von Karma sees that as critical evidence, and demands that the Pistol be added to the Court Record.

For newcomers to the game, von Karma asks the judge to explain the "ballistic markings": It's like a "fingerprint" gun in an entirely different manner. You examine the "ballistic fingerprints" to identify which gun was shot. It's accurate depending on technology these days.

von Karma asks if the Pistol Bullet came from the Pistol. Thanks to the ballistic markings (the unique identifiers of the gun), they find that it did. von Karma concludes that the bullet that killed the victim was fired from the gun with the fingerprints of the defendant. The judge would declare the verdict, but he needs to listen to the witness' testimony. von Karma then has the judge call a recess.

Recess
You ask Edgeworth about the fingerprints. Edgeworth says that he was on the boat, but he didn't shoot Hammond. He heard a shot very close by. The other man probably shot himself. Suicide? Edgeworth claims he wasn't sure, and that it's the only explanation he could come up with. Maya still has no progress with Mia. She wonders if she is any help any more. Say "No, I need you here" — you'll see later why. After arguing with her, Edgeworth will interrupt, saying it's bad for his heart. Recess is over, so continue in court.

von Karma calls Lotta Hart to the stand, and demands she talk without adding anything trivial or subjective, much to Lotta's disturbance.

Lotta's Testimony: Witness's Account
von Karma hears enough; as Lotta told the court, she had a picture of the moment of the murder and there were no other boats in that lake. No other man could have shot the victim but Edgeworth, so the judge, having heard enough, decides to call the verdict. However, you still need a cross-examination. von Karma decides to let you do so, as he thinks you'll fail to find a contradictory statement in the testimony. If you don't, he'll sentence you to contempt of court. Maya asks you if there was anything contradictory, so say "I think there was".

If you're curious about "contempt of court", what it really means is breaching the rules of court. If you take your powers too far by breaking rules, you'll be thrown out until such time.

Witness's Account: Cross-examination
Press Lotta on her second statement. She was camping there, because she was doing a project for her university. Choose "Press further", and von Karma will object to this as research has nothing to do with the murder and has the judge sustain the objection.

Press the third and fourth statements, then press further on the latter statement, and she'll reveal to you that she saw the two men with her own eyes. von Karma objects to this — is he hiding something? Press Lotta on her fifth and sixth statements. She reveals that she witnessed the other shot. Press further on the latter statement. Lotta says that she was scanning the whole lake. The whole lake? Was she looking for something else? von Karma, of course, objects to this and finds all of your questions hopeless, thus, he'll say that Phoenix will be out of the courtroom if he has another outburst.

Seeing that Lotta's testimony stinks, and seeing that Phoenix has no chance of doing more cross-examining, Maya Fey harshly demands that Lotta tell the court if she clearly saw that it was Edgeworth who shot the man. Lotta says she did, however, von Karma sees this as another outburst and the judge orders the officers to take Phoenix away. Maya however, says that she made the outburst, not you. von Karma doesn't care, as he says the verdict is now clear. Say "Wrong" as Lotta has made another testimony. The judge agrees and allows Lotta to add her new statement. Maya is taken away from court for the outburst, so it looks like you're on your own for now. von Karma still has his hopes up though.

The Last Statement

 * "I saw it as clear as day. The man on the boat was Mr. Edgeworth!"

Present the Lake Photo to the court. Do not press her on that statement, or the court will penalize you. That wasn't in her testimony. It seems that Lotta's Camera took a very high-quality photo of the lake, yet it didn't catch their faces. If so, then how did she know it was Edgeworth on that boat? Looks like you're finally making progress, as Lotta will make a new testimony, much to von Karma's annoyance.

How Edgeworth Was Seen: Cross-examination
She brought binoculars? Press her on her third statement. Didn't she say she was looking for shooting stars yesterday? Wouldn't she need a telescope for that? Was the Camera really used to catch a meteor shower? von Karma objects, saying that the Camera is irrelevant to the case, and there will be consequences if you don't find anything useful. The judge asks if you would like to continue. Say "Press further", as the Camera may be important to most, if not all of the case. Lotta will make a new statement.
 * "The camera was set up to take pictures of a meteor shower."

Press her on that statement. Wasn't the lake too foggy for the Camera to take a photo of the meteor shower? von Karma says you're confusing the witness, and lets her continue. Present Lotta's Camera or the Lake Photo against the same statement. If she was taking pictures of the stars, then why did she point the Camera to the lake? She would've pointed the Camera upwards. The judge wants evidence. Choose "Show evidence" and present the court with the Gourdy Article. It seems she was there to take pictures of Gourdy.

Lotta wants proof that Gourdy is what she was really there for. Say "I have proof", then present Lotta's Camera or Gourdy Article. Lotta set the camera to respond to a loud noise. The Pistol made a loud bang, which triggered the Camera. According to the article, Gourdy made a loud noise when it emerged. Lotta finally admits that she was there to see Gourdy. However, it doesn't really change what she saw. The judge asks Lotta to change her testimony of why she was at the lake. Lotta and von Karma think it still won't change anything, so make sure they are wrong.

Lotta's Testimony: Lotta's New Testimony
von Karma objects to this and sees that Lotta's testimony is unchanged and doesn't want to go through another "pointless" cross-examination. von Karma is obviously hiding something. Your cross-examination will begin, but the judge will say this is your last chance.

DSi/3DS Trilogy note: Statement 9 won't be available for examination.

Lotta's New Testimony: Cross-examination
If you are playing the HD iOS port or the Steam Trilogy, press statement 2 to get the I'm an Investigative Photographer. achievement.

On her seventh statement, present the Gourdy Article. Wasn't Lotta scanning the lake for Gourdy, rather than keeping her eye on the boat? She probably wouldn't need binoculars to see a close boat. She would use them for Gourdy. She admits that she didn't give the boat a second thought. She does, however, remind you that you have the Lake Photo, the proof. However, you still can't tell who's shooting who. But before Lotta can explain what she did to fix it, von Karma objects and tells Lotta she said enough, and to shut her "pie-hole", thus ending the cross-examination.

What was Lotta about to say? You then remember that yesterday, Gumshoe said she was going to enlarge it. Is this what von Karma is hiding? Choose "Make her show the enlargement" — it's all or nothing now. Lotta agrees. von Karma objects, but, lucky for you, it is finally overruled. She shows the enlargement, however you still can't tell who's shooting who. Regardless, the Lake Photo will be updated in the Court Record. It seems the enlargement has done little to help. It looks like the judge has his verdict.

But there is still something not right in the photo. You have a choice to stop the verdict or not. Choose "Object to the enlargement". The judge will ask you to find the strange part of the photo. You will examine the enlargement. Move the cursor to the hand holding the Pistol. Then present it to the court. The judge will ask if you have proof of what's wrong. Present the Pistol to the court. In the photo, the murderer is shooting the Pistol from his left hand, while the Pistol has prints from Edgeworth's right hand, concluding that the man shooting was not Edgeworth.

The judge praises you for finding proof, but that leaves one problem: if Edgeworth didn't shoot him, then who did? Only two people were on the boat! Karma wants you to say who. Say "The victim himself". Karma objects, as an Autopsy Report shows that the Pistol was fired a meter away, about three feet. The victim's arm obviously isn't that long, so suicide is out of the question. The Autopsy Report will be updated in your Court Record. The judge concludes that Edgeworth isn't the shooter, but neither is the victim. He will adjourn the court for today, thankfully without a verdict.

Note: If you choose a "Wait and see" approach on the option of showing the photo enlargement, the judge will decide to give Miles Edgeworth a guilty verdict thus ending the case. You seriously don't want to end the case now so make sure to "Object to the enlargement" to allow this game to continue.

After the trial
Edgeworth still claims that he didn't shoot the victim and that he wants you to tell Maya to watch her mouth. Lotta's testimony seemed to include very useful information, so you write out Lotta's Deposition, which will be added to the Court Record. The trial is over for the day. Time to continue investigating, but first, go talk to Maya in the Detention Center on the next page.