Earthcub12 Presents

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ~ Courtroom Champions

-TURNABOUT FOREVER-

-Trial 1-1 (Part One)-

-August 21, 9:45 AM-
-District Court-
-Defendant Lobby No. 4-

(*Sigh*… Another day, another trial. I used to be terrified of Courtrooms. But now… I guess you could say I grew into it. An ol' home away from home, you could say.) Phoenix thought to himself.

"You nervous, boss?" Phoenix heard a voice ask. He turned. It was Apollo Justice.

"No, not really. It's been a while since I've done all this, though, Apollo." Phoenix Wright answered. "It's just that our client hasn't shown up yet."

"Maybe he is guilty!" Apollo joked with a smile on his face.

"Hey, after a certain trial a while back ago, I wouldn't put it past them." He said with a laugh. He was really half-joking, half-agreeing.

"Gooood morning, Mr. Wright!"

He turned to the voice of Athena Cykes, standing there with her arms to her sides and smiling, confident as an eagle.

"Morning, Athena." Phoenix said back. "You ready for today?"

Athena clapped her hands together. "You know it, boss! It's exciting, isn't it!? Hey, wait… where's our client? Usually they show up by now."

He looked around. No client in sight.

"Don't worry about it. They'll show up in no time. I'll bet you he's raring to go and-."

"THIS IS IT! I'M DONE FOR! CAPOOT! DEAD! HANG ME BY A NOOSE, I'M THROOOOOUGH!"

(That's our client, all right…) Thought Phoenix.

He runs towards us, tears down his face, his face red as a fresh rose. He is wearing a mall security outfit. Suit, tie, badge, utility belt, the real deal.

(My client's name is Steven Vaughan. He's 28, has a family, and works at the Wall-2-Wall Shopping Center; you can tell by the clothes he wears and the fact that 'WALL-2-WALL SECURITY' is labeled on his jacket. The shopping center is where the murder took place. Because of all the police work, we couldn't get a chance to do any investigating of our own. Let's hope things turn out for our betterment today.)

"No need to worry yourself, Mr. Vaughan." Apollo assured him. "Phoenix and Athena are the very best attorneys I know. You're in good hands. You'll do just fine."

Mr. Vaughan just stood there, motionless.

"…WHAT IF I DID DO IT!?" Mr. Vaughan shouted back at us. "…Wait, no, I mean… I didn't mean it like that. What if, like, the prosecutor has some dirt on me that gets me tossed to jail. I mean… what if?"

"Look, Mr. Vaughan," Phoenix started to tell him, "let me ask you something… are you innocent?"

"Huh?" Mr. Vaughan said, shooting straight up.

"I said… are you innocent?"

"I… I… yes. I am."

"Then you are in safe hands. I promise you. I promise you you'll leave here today, or I will die trying."

The three were quiet. Then Mr. Vaughan told the attorneys,

"…I… I trust you, Mr. Wright."

"That's all I needed to hear." Phoenix said with a kind grin.

"Ten minutes until court proceeds!" The officers in the court yelled out. "The defense and the defendant has ten minutes to take place in the court!"

Apollo crossed his arms. "Okay, Phoenix. Okay, Athena. This is it! I'm counting on you guys! Steven is the brother of a real good friend of mine! I'm counting on you getting him out of here! I'll be rooting for you from the gallery."

Athena smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Not to worry, Apollo! We'll get him out of here before you can say, 'non coupable, tout le monde'!"

(This is it. Get ready, Phoenix. I have a feeling this won't be easy. But I have to win. Not for me – but for my client.)

-August 21, 10:00-
-District Court-
-Courtroom No. 4-

Court is Now in Session.

All Rise.

"Court is hereby in session for the trial of Steven Vaughan." The Judge said, his powerful voice echoing in the courtroom. "Is the defense and prosecution ready?"

"The defense is ready, Your Honor." I answered.

Phoenix saw a man across from me. He is wearing glasses and has a dark ponytail that looks like it came from a second-hand hair salon.

"The prosecution is ready as well, Your Honor." The prosecutor answered back. "And might I say, your cloak today looks rather astoni-dashing, if you ask me."

"Huh? Mine?" The Judge replied with a surprised voice. "Well, I did just get it dry cleaned. Thank you for your compliment, and how are you, Mr.…?"

"Payne, Your Honor." The prosecutor said. "Mr. Sheldon Payne."

Phoenix hunched over in disbelief.

(…Yeesh. Winston, Gaspen, Sheldon… how much Payne am I gonna have to endure!?)

"And you, Mr. Phoenix Wright," Mr. Payne called out, "or should I say, Mr. Kleenex Slight?"

"Huh?" Phoenix replied, caught off-guard by his kind salutation.

"You made a mockery of my family for the very last time, Mr. Slight." The prosecutor said, twirling his ponytail. "It's time I fed you a bowl of humble cereal!"

"Careful, boss." Athena told Phoenix with a smile on her face. "Looks like he's got you beat."

"This is ridiculous! What's with this family!?"

The Judge slammed his gavel, making a noise to silence the entire courtroom.

"Social time is now over, everyone! Now, Mr. Payne, will you give the opening statement for the court, please?"

"Ha, ha, ha… yes. Yes, Your Honor." Said Payne, with a smirk.

"On the night of August 19, approximately at around 11:45 PM, the defendant before us today, otherwise known as security officer Steven Vaughan, murdered his own employer at the recently-opened Wall-2-Wall Shopping Center in his office. The victim, Richard Mann, was beaten to death by this crowbar. The police has also taken a photo of the crime scene."

"Very good, Mr. Payne." The Judge commented. "The court accepts these into evidence."

'VICTIM'S AUTOPSY REPORT' ADDED TO COURT RECORD

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Victim was one Thomas Mann. Was beaten to death by a crowbar around the facial area. Time of death was approximately 11:45.

'CROWBAR' ADDED TO COURT RECORD

ITEM DESCRIPTION: The murder weapon. Contains the defendant's fingerprints on it.

'CRIME PHOTO' ADDED TO COURT RECORD

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Photo taken when the body was found. (Picture includes an outline of the body. Blood spatters is located around the head of the outline. Also contains the destroyed table)

"What evidence supports that Mr. Vaughan did the crime in the first place?" The Judge asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Your Honor." Mr. Payne said. "The police have analyzed the fingerprints on the crowbar; they belong to the defendant, Mr. Steven Vaughan. Also, the security camera located around the mall have revealed that Mr. Vaughan showed up to the crime scene, before and after the murder."

"WHAT!?" Phoenix shouted, jumping up.

"Here is the security camera feed showing what the camera caught before and after the incident."

Payne projected an image to the court that revealed the client walking in and out of the office at the time of the murder. "The timestamp reveals it was 11:47 when the defendant walked in and 11:55 when he walked out. Unfortunately, we can't get a good luck of his face on the second one."

"Hmmm…" The Judge said, examining the images. "Very convincing, if I do say so myself."

"OBJECTION! " Phoenix shouted to the court. He slammed my hands down on my desk. "Your Honor! This hardly hits the ballpark of 'convincing' evidence! We can't even get a good look on his face when the culprit walked out at 11:55 that night! The prosecution even acknowledges that very fact!"

"Oh! That's true!" The Judge exclaimed. "Mr. Payne, what do you have to say to that?"

Mr. Payne began twirling his ponytail again. "It's true that we can't exactly see his face, but no other person walked in and out between the time of 11:47 and 11:55. Now, if the defense would show evidence proving it was, in fact, someone else, it'd be a whole different story. So, how 'bout it, Mr. Slight? Any evidence you want to show off?"

Phoenix then thought to himself, (….That show-off…)

'SECURITY CAMERA FEED' ADDED TO COURT RECORD

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Taken from the security feed showing Steven Vaughan entering and exiting the crime scene.

"Well… no," Phoenix confessed nervously, "the defense may not have any evidence just yet, but…"

"HA! You see, Your Honor!?" Mr. Payne shouted to His Honor. "The defense admitted they have no evidence disproving the prosecution's claims! How sad is that?"

"Mr. Wright, I am rather disappointed." The Judge said to me with a harsh look on his face. "You are a sad, strange, little man, and you have my pity."

"I-I'm so sorry, Your Honor!" Phoenix told the Judge.

(Wait just a minute! What am I sorry for!?) Phoenix thought.

Athena chuckled. "Mr. Wright? You okay? Are the mean prosecutor and judge bullying you again?"

(I'm not used to this cruelty!) Phoenix told himself.

"Anywho…" Mr. Payne began to say. "The prosecution has more than evidence to show that Steven Vaughan is the true culprit. We have two decisive witnesses before us today. The one who witnessed the murder, and someone else who caught Mr. Vaughan red-handed and apprehended him."

"Interesting." The Judge said with child-like wonder. "Let's begin with the person who witnessed the murder, shall we?"

"Yes, Your Honor. I'll bring her right in. She should be in the gallery at this very moment, actually."

(Get ready, Phoenix. Time to rub it in to that pompous prosecutor, send an innocent man back home, and call it a day. You can do this!) Phoenix confidently thought to himself.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

EVIDENCE OVERVIEW:

-Attorney Badge

-Victim's Autopsy Report

-Crowbar

-Crime Photo

-Security Camera Feed

Author's Note: So, yeah, here's our first Turnabout. Did Steven do it!? Will Wright win!? Will the Payne's stop being such pains!?I dunno.

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