Chapter 4
Phoenix turned to face the voice, "Mia!" he uttered shocked.
"Your honour, the defence requests a piece of evidence that would prove the defendant was not at the crime scene when the crime was committed."
Mia was unsure who was the most perplexed by this statement, Phoenix, the judge, the witness or Edgeworth. "Mia, how do you intend to do that?" Phoenix asked.
"You still don't drive do you?"
"Wha... No, I never got round to getting my license." he stammered, non the wiser .
"Exactly. Don't buses now have CCTV? If we could get the footage from it, we could prove you left before the victim was killed."
"Mia, that's genius!"
She shrugged modestly. "I try, now go ask for the footage."
Phoenix nodded. "Your honour, I request the footage from the route 533 bus from 2pm to 3pm on the day of the murder, if we can obtain that then I can prove my innocence."
"Does the prosecution object?" the judge enquired.
"No your honour, they may proceed.".
"Very well, bailiff can you instruct the detective to contact the bus company and obtain the CCTV footage for the 533."
The bailiff nodded and headed off to instruct Gumshoe."
"Court is in recess until the detectives return." with that he banged the gavel and people began to file out .
In the defendants lobby Mia was still being channelled .
"I thought I was a goner there." he told her gratefully.
"Don't thank me yet, we still have to hope they keep the footage and that you can clearly be seen on it."
Half an hour later the detective returned with a disk and everyone was ushered back into the courtroom.
"We were able to get a copy of the CCTV your honour but we've not had time to check it ." The detective told the judge as the bailiff wheeled in a TV and DVD player.
The detective put the DVD on and the visual came on. The camera was date-stamped. At 2.05pm on the DVD Phoenix Wright had boarded the 533.
Gumshoe paused the tape. "That's the defendant alright," the judge announced. "No doubt about it with those spikes."
'Just once could I have a trial where my hair isn't mentioned?' He thought as he picked up the autopsy report. "The report states the victim died at 2.25pm, therefore I couldn't have been the culprit." he stated.
"Objection!" Edgeworth countered "The defendant could have got off at the next stop and gone back to the scene of the crime, detective keep playing the tape, I want to be sure where he was at the time of the murder."
"Yes sir" Gumshoe replied playing the DVD on fast forward and stopped it as Phoenix got off the bus at 2.30pm.
"Well there you have it your honour, I couldn't have killed Mr Delacourt, it clearly shows that I was on the bus that whole time."
The judge nodded in agreement. "Does the prosecution have any objections to this evidence?"
Edgeworth tried to put on an aggrieved tone. "No your honour, it is as the defence states, he was not at the scene of the crime at the time of the murder."
The judge began "In that case the court hereby finds the defendant Phoenix Wright..."
"Hold it!" a voice cried out.
"Again?!" Phoenix thought sourly, he had been grateful the first time but he was about to be found not guilty.
The voice belonged to the witness, Angie Fairbanks. "But I saw him! H...His print were on the murder weapon!" She turned to Edgeworth. "Why must I do your job for you?!"
"Nghh!" Edgeworth looked aghast
' I don't want Wright to end up in jail or worse but I must have seemed too favourable to him, I have to be more vigilant!'
He'd intended to help him, to cancel the debt he felt he owed the defence attorney for his work on his own case and the DL6 incident. "The witness has a point your honour, to a certain degree at least. Her testimony has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese, however his fingerprints were found on the murder weapon." he stated.
"Very well, the witness may stand down for now, Mr Wright if you could take the stand and answer any questions the prosecution may have about the remaining evidence?"
"Yes your honour." he replied taking the case file with him.
"Mr Wright if you could please explain to the court why your prints were found on the murder weapon please?"
"Certainly Mr Edgeworth" Phoenix replied putting a little emphasis on the Mr after all he'd never been addressed as Mr Wright before by the prosecutor. "I saw someone I recognised on the street, the other side of the fence and I was standing by the trash can, when I turned to walk away from the fence I saw something catch the sunlight, I dug it out of the bin and saw it was the trophy, recalling the argument between Ms Fairbanks and the victim, I thought she had thrown it away whilst angry, knowing regrets borne from angry actions I put it back in the trophy cabinet before I went home."
"Do you make a habit out of rooting through the trash?" Edgeworth asked with a smirk.
"What? No! I just saw something glinting, I cant help seeing something like that. It looked strange so I got curious."
The judge agreed "Yes I agree, its like when you see a shiny coin on the ground, you cant help noticing it!"
'Not exactly the same...' Phoenix thought
"However I think that with the explanation given and the proof from the bus footage I can make my verdict on the defendants culpability or lack thereof, if the prosecution has no further objection to this?" The judge asked.
Edgeworth shook his head.
"In that case the court finds Phoenix Wright, not guilty."
This was followed by the usual cheering and confetti affair. "However." The judge continued "We are left with the question of who the guilty party is."
Phoenix was only half listening, all thanks to Mia he wasn't facing a murder charge any more. "I expect the prosecution to investigate this further and find out who this mystery person is. Court is adjourned for the day." The gavel banged once more and people began filing out.
Thanks for reading, lemme know what you think of the case so far and if you are looking for a great fan-fiction to read then I highly recommend – to turnabout eternally by Ari Moriarty.
-W.A.A.