The LP Turnabout: A Documentary on Japanifornian Law with Phoenix Wright

Bonus update today! I’m feeling hype since we’re near the end of the game and all my footage for the rest is now recorded.

Case 5 - Rise From the Ashes
Trial (Day 4) - Part 9

: Now then…
: Will the defendant, Ms. Lana Skye, please take the stand?

: Ms. Lana Skye. You are the Chief Prosecutor.
: I’m sure you’re aware of what is required of you.
: But Mr. Edgeworth… you already know everything…
: You know all that I’ve done these past two years.
: …
: Please provide the court with your testimony, Ms. Skye.
: And remember… you are under oath. We want to hear the truth.
: Of course…
: The truth…
: Lana! No matter what happens, I’ll always be your sister!
: …

: Now then, your testimony, if you will.
: First, tell us about your relationship with Gant.
: (Everything hinges on your testimony. You’re the only chance we have to get Gant!)

: Hmm…
: Are you sure about this testimony?
: Your Honor. I’m confessing to a capital offense.
: Of course I’m sure.
: But Lana…!

: If this is true,
: then that means Chief Gant has nothing to do with this.
: That’s what I’ve been telling you from the beginning.
: Please, Mr. Wright. You’ve got to help her! She’s sacrificing herself because of me…
: (But what if she’s telling the truth?)
: She’s not. I know my own sister.
: Whenever she speaks stiffly like that, she’s hiding something inside.
: Deep down, she’s really screaming in agony!
: …! (Yeah… This is no time to start second-guessing myself!)

: The defense may now begin its cross-examination.

: How many years, exactly?
: Ever since I made senior detective.
: Let’s see, I was 24 then… so that would be five years.
: Detective Gant and Detective Skye were
: legendary partners. I personally saw them testify in numerous cases.
: (She must have been good, coming from the same school as Mia…)
: Damon Gant was a respectable detective. That’s why…

: But think about it, Ms. Skye! You didn’t murder
: Detective Goodman!
: You told me as much yesterday in jail!
: You still don’t get it,
: do you Mr. Wright?
: Any testimony you cannot present in court is as useless as idle gossip.
: …!
: I stabbed Detective Goodman with a knife.
: And…

: Did you do so to help your sister?
: Joe Darke was a serial killer.
: My sister almost became his last victim that day. I didn’t want that incident to ruin her life.

: But what she did was justifiable self-defense!
: She wouldn’t have been charged with anything…
: That’s not the point. She was traumatized that day, all because of that creep!
: That’s why I couldn’t forgive him.
: Lana…
: So that’s why you fabricated
: the evidence two years ago?

: You say you did this all by yourself?
: Yes.
: Would you mind telling us what you found when you arrived at the crime scene?
: …
: It seems I was the first person to discover the scene.

: What!?

: That’s only a situation you dreamed was “possible.”
: …!
: The reality is, it wasn’t my sister who took the prosecutor’s life!
: Fantasize all you want, Mr. Wright, but I’ll never change this statement!

: Something like that…
: If that is so,
: what happened to the other murder weapon?

: Oh,
: that was lying on the floor a little distance away.
: It was probably knocked away in the struggle.
: (That’s not how it went down! She’s trying to cover up her lies with more lies!)
: All just to protect me…

: So when you found the scene like this,
: what did you do? After all,
: this is what everything boils down to!

: Yes…

: And then you moved the body?

: But why!? Why would you do that…?
: You of all people should know, Edgeworth.
: You’ve always had a good head on your shoulders.
: …!

: But why did you do that!?
: Come now, Mr. Wright.
: Even you should be able to figure it out.
: …

: Very well, let’s add this to the witness’s testimony!
: The reason Ms. Skye fabricated the knife!

: According to your testimony,

: Yes, and leaving it at that might point the blame away from Darke.
: I felt the most effective way to get him convicted,

: So you…
: you buried it inside the victim’s stab wound?
: Yes.
: Because I hated Darke for what he did.
: Hmm…

Not the most informative. But if we went back and tried the other option…

: When you showed up on the scene, where exactly was the victim’s body?
: It was where you deduced it was - by Chief Gant’s desk.
: But the body was found by your desk.

: The reason for that is simple…

: Let’s have the witness explain this in more detail.
: The reason Ms. Skye moved the body!

: “Pieces of the jar…” You mean…?

: In order to show that Darke committed the crime…
: I felt it would be more expedient to move the body.
: So…
: when you first found the body, the jar was already…
: Of course. It had been shattered to pieces.

: In other words, the jar must have been broken during their struggle.

: I see.
: …
: What’s the matter, Ema?
: Apparently the jar shattered at the time the crime was committed.
: But I have a feeling there is more to it than that.
: (There must be a contradiction here somewhere!)
: Anyway, I committed this fabrication completely alone.

: So you rearranged the crime scene…
: Are you sure you didn’t do this to keep Ema from looking like the “murderer”?
: How many times do I have to tell you, Mr. Wright? Ema didn’t do it.
: Period.
: (Are you so desperate to hide that fact… you’re willing to risk the death sentence?)
: She’s lying! She did it so I wouldn’t be blamed for what happened!
: In any case…
: as a prosecutor, what I’ve done is unpardonable. There’s nothing I can do to make up for my actions.

Loop.

: Mr. Wright! My sister’s lying!
: Looks like she’s determined to protect you to the end. She insists she fabricated the evidence by herself.
: There’s no way she could have done it alone!
: (I’ve got to get Lana to talk more. If she’s lying, then she’s bound to slip up and make a contradiction!)

Can you spot it?

: Ms. Skye, I understand how you feel.
: You committed that “crime” two years ago to protect your sister.
: You mean the forgery at the scene where Neil Marshall was murdered?
: If the truth were to be exposed now,
: the past two years of your life

: will have been useless. Even so, I am compelled to bring to everyone’s attention
: a significant contradiction within your testimony!

: A contradiction… in my testimony?
: You testified, and I quote, “The pieces of the jar that shattered during the events threatened my plan.”
: That’s right…
: Do you have a problem with that?
: It’s a simple oversight, really.
: You see, a message was written on the jar with the victim’s blood.
: Yes. The prosecutor must have written it in his final moments.

: Exactly so.
: And this is where the contradiction lies.
: !
: In order for the victim to be able to write his message on the jar,
: it must not yet have been broken before he died!
: Ah…

: Order! Order!
: Your Honor. It would appear… more information is needed in regard to
: this jar, and its bloody message!
: We may be missing something critical here!
: (Something critical…?)
: Chief Prosecutor.
: It seems you’re as in the dark as we are… about the truth towards which we’re headed.
: What…?
: Just tell us exactly what you saw.
: We’ll piece together the information to arrive at the truth.

: Very well! The witness may now continue her testimony!
: …

Next time: The final battle?

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