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croikI signed up to participate in the Apollo Justice Countdown - replaying the first three Ace Attorney games in order, one case per day, until the release. And to blog about it! So for a while my journal's gonna be full of these things.
1-1, The First Turnabout (some JFA and T&T spoilers also)
It's been a long time since I replayed the very first case. First cases always kind of feel like a throwaway because they're so introductionary and really easy, so there's not much point to replaying them. But it is good to go back. Phoenix really did a better job on his first case than I remembered, even though it was an easy case.
The one thing about the case that stands out after having played all four games is that it's something of a set-up in terms of how Phoenix approaches law in every case that follows: identify a hostile witness and pin the blame on them. It's hard to know if this is something Mia taught him, since in her first case she was more or less swept along by Dahlia and Armando, and in her second case she went in knowing that Dahlia was guilty. In 1-1 the judge remarks that he's never seen a defense attorney charge through a case so quickly and catch the criminal the same time. I think we can assume that Phoenix's method of "don't just prove your client innocent, get the real culprit at the same time" is not what most other attornies in the PW world use.
Obviously I'm not a lawyer, so my only court experience is watching too many seasons of CSI and The Practice. But from those, they make it pretty clear that Phoenix's way of doing things would give him a rather negative reputation in a normal world. Because the American justice system is "innocent unti proven guilty," providing reasonble doubt that your client is guilty is enough. Going so far as to attack a witness might be considered overkill. In The Practice, it was a tactic only ever used as a last resort, and was referred to as Plan B. Every time they resorted to pinning the blame on someone else, their reputation suffered for it. It drove some of the judges crazy. I don't know if that represents how a real court would react, but it does seem like a cheap way to win doubt to just point your finger at someone.
Of course, Phoenix has to do better than "reasonable doubt." He has to prove his client 100% innocent, and getting someone else to confess is a pretty fool proof way of doing that. But he has to have a lot of confidence in himself to go into every case thinking that he'll be able to do all that. What would happen if the real killer got away so cleanly that he never showed up in court at all? Would Phoenix be able to prove his client innocent if he couldn't rely on his old tricks?
It almost happened in 2-4. All Phoenix could do was go after Adrian, and he could have gotten an innocent woman put in jail. I know in 2-4 I picked to have Phoenix delcare Matt guilty, even at the expense of Maya's life, and I think a lot of people assume he picked the same. But what if Phoenix was ever wrong, and couldn't tell? Your judgment can't be perfect all the time.
It may even be a good thing that Phoenix left law when he did, before his confidence got the better of him...
1-1, The First Turnabout (some JFA and T&T spoilers also)
It's been a long time since I replayed the very first case. First cases always kind of feel like a throwaway because they're so introductionary and really easy, so there's not much point to replaying them. But it is good to go back. Phoenix really did a better job on his first case than I remembered, even though it was an easy case.
The one thing about the case that stands out after having played all four games is that it's something of a set-up in terms of how Phoenix approaches law in every case that follows: identify a hostile witness and pin the blame on them. It's hard to know if this is something Mia taught him, since in her first case she was more or less swept along by Dahlia and Armando, and in her second case she went in knowing that Dahlia was guilty. In 1-1 the judge remarks that he's never seen a defense attorney charge through a case so quickly and catch the criminal the same time. I think we can assume that Phoenix's method of "don't just prove your client innocent, get the real culprit at the same time" is not what most other attornies in the PW world use.
Obviously I'm not a lawyer, so my only court experience is watching too many seasons of CSI and The Practice. But from those, they make it pretty clear that Phoenix's way of doing things would give him a rather negative reputation in a normal world. Because the American justice system is "innocent unti proven guilty," providing reasonble doubt that your client is guilty is enough. Going so far as to attack a witness might be considered overkill. In The Practice, it was a tactic only ever used as a last resort, and was referred to as Plan B. Every time they resorted to pinning the blame on someone else, their reputation suffered for it. It drove some of the judges crazy. I don't know if that represents how a real court would react, but it does seem like a cheap way to win doubt to just point your finger at someone.
Of course, Phoenix has to do better than "reasonable doubt." He has to prove his client 100% innocent, and getting someone else to confess is a pretty fool proof way of doing that. But he has to have a lot of confidence in himself to go into every case thinking that he'll be able to do all that. What would happen if the real killer got away so cleanly that he never showed up in court at all? Would Phoenix be able to prove his client innocent if he couldn't rely on his old tricks?
It almost happened in 2-4. All Phoenix could do was go after Adrian, and he could have gotten an innocent woman put in jail. I know in 2-4 I picked to have Phoenix delcare Matt guilty, even at the expense of Maya's life, and I think a lot of people assume he picked the same. But what if Phoenix was ever wrong, and couldn't tell? Your judgment can't be perfect all the time.
It may even be a good thing that Phoenix left law when he did, before his confidence got the better of him...
