Chapter Text
Phoenix knew it was going to be a bad day when it began with him getting knocked to the ground. He already had reservations about this case. Of course he didn't believe in omens, but still…
He rubbed his head as he struggled to a sitting position. The courthouse floor was hard. It would be his luck to walk up to the defense's bench with an ugly bruise forming on his face. He didn't want to explain that to the judge, or make a bad impression on this mysterious new prosecutor he was going up against. His record for good first impressions with the other side wasn't exactly great at this point.
He'd meant to call Edgeworth about that, but like a lot of things, it had slipped his mind until it was too late.
"I'm so sorry. Are you ok?"
Phoenix glanced up at whoever had run into him, fully prepared to be petty and glare and grumble at the inconvenience this guy had caused. He got one look and the words instantly died in his throat.
The man in front of him was mostly unremarkable. He might have been around the same age as Phoenix, maybe a little younger. He had red hair with a wind tousled look and wore a plain gray suit with a dark tie tucked into his jacket. An abandoned briefcase lay next to him, presumably dropped in the collision. He was slightly bent over now, one arm awkwardly reaching in Phoenix's direction, though it was too far to the left and too high up to be of any help. The other hand was occupied with a sort of walking stick, a fact that quickly made sense when combined with the dark glasses obscuring his eyes.
"No! I mean, no, don't worry, I'm fine!"
Phoenix scrambled to his feet. He didn't feel comfortable taking the man's hand for help, but he couldn't just leave it there. Should he say something?
Before he got the chance, the stranger lowered his hand, and turned in Phoenix's general direction.
"Are you sure? I hit you pretty hard." He gave an apologetic smile. "I really am sorry, it's my first time here. I think I got so caught up trying to find my way I wasn't paying attention to anything else."
"It’s fine, really! Not a big deal!"
There was an awkward pause.
"Ah...do you need help finding anything? I know this place pretty well," Phoenix offered. He had a little time before the trial after all. And if he were being honest, a little bit of guilt at nearly knocking down a blind man.
"Oh, no, you don't need to, I've caused you enough trouble."
"No it's fine, I'd be happy to help."
"I don't want to impose."
"It's no trouble at all."
There was another pause.
"Well if you really don't mind," the man finally said, "I'm trying to get to the prosecutor's bench."
"Oh thats...wait, what?"
The man extended a hand, though this time for a handshake. He still held it out too far to the left.
"Prosecutor Matt Murdock. It's nice to meet you...?"
Phoenix took a few seconds to respond, temporarily frozen in surprise. This was the new prosecutor? He seemed so...normal.
"Phoenix Wright."
Phoenix shook Murdock's hand after awkwardly repositioning himself to properly be in front of it.
"Uh...defense attorney Phoenix Wright, actually."
Murdock raised his eyebrows.
"You're who I'm going up against today? That's quite a coincidence."
"Well not many people go to the courthouse. I guess it's not too surprising."
Murdock smiled.
"I guess you have a point."
They made their way to the courtroom. Phoenix picked up the briefcase, and at Murdock's request led him straight to the prosecutor's bench, keeping a hand on his arm to keep him from running into anything. The room was still mostly empty without the peanut gallery here yet. Phoenix carefully set the briefcase on the bench while Murdock got situated.
"It was nice meeting you mister Wright. Good luck today."
Phoenix couldn't help the small furrow of his brow as he walked away, angling for the defendant's chamber.
"Good luck?" Phoenix muttered to himself once he was out of earshot.
"Was I not supposed to say that?"
Phoenix jumped. Murdock heard that? He was halfway across the room!
"Nothing like that, it's just unexpected. Like you said, we're going up against each other. If I get too lucky you lose, right? And you probably don't want that."
Murdock seemed thoughtful for a moment. Phoenix got the uncomfortable feeling the man was watching him somehow, even if he knew that wasn't possible.
"Well that would depend on my goal, wouldn't it Mr. Wright?"
Murdock smiled. Or was it more of a smirk?
"Anyway, I've taken enough of your time. You probably need to see to your client."
Murdock nodded in Phoenix's direction before turning his attention to his briefcase. He pulled out some unusually thick papers and began- well, not looming over them exactly, but something like that. It was a clear dismissal.
Phoenix walked away bemused. He was really starting to regret not calling Edgeworth.
***
“What’re you lookin’ at?”
This again. Phoenix sighed internally.
“Nothing. The trial is about to start though. If there’s anything else you can tell me, now is the time.”
“I already told you everything I know! I didn’t do nothin’!”
It took a lot of willpower to not cringe at the poor accent. It was a terrible imitation, something this guy probably picked up from movies instead of any real criminals. Why did he always end up with clients like these? He never should have agreed. If Apollo had been available he might have dumped - er, given - the case to him. The client was clearly hiding something, but there was only one truth Phoenix really cared about right now.
“Mr. Quent, I’d like to ask you one more time-did you kill anyone?”
There was a moment of surprise in his face, then his entire demeanor changed.
“I didn’t kill anybody! I swear! I may be a criminal but I’m not a murderer! I was just moving boxes, man.”
There goes the accent.
Why bother even trying to act tough if you were going to lose it at the drop of a hat? Though in the end, it didn’t really matter. There were no psychelocks anywhere. Whatever else he was hiding, he wasn’t lying about the most important part.
“Will the defendant and his lawyer proceed to the courtroom now?”
Phoenix felt a nervous churning in his stomach. He hadn’t felt this way in...a long time. It may as well have been his first trial. He couldn't quite pin down what it was that bothered him so much. Was it the limited evidence he had to work with? The fact that he hadn’t gotten any time to investigate on his own after taking the case at the last minute? Was it this new lawyer that somehow seemed completely normal and still a little unnerving? All of the above?
He'd been in worse spots before. So what was getting to him? Why did something feel so...off?
Of course, he knew it was pointless to worry now. All he could do was his job, to the best of his ability. Maybe he would get lucky. Maybe there would be a damning piece of evidence discovered at the last second proving his client’s innocence. Maybe Murdock would turn out to be the worst prosecutor he would ever face. Maybe pigs would fly. Nobody could really know.
He took up his usual position while Quent slouched in the defendant’s chair. Murdock’s hands were still skimming papers in front of him. The spectators were seated now. Phoenix was never really sure why people always showed up to trials, even small ones like this, but it was a staple of the courtroom. It was hard to imagine a trial without the rabble in the background.
The judge walked in last. He took his time settling into his seat, seemingly oblivious to the eyes all focused on him as everyone in the courtroom stood up simultaneously. Once he was settled, he returned those looks, his own eyes sweeping across the courtroom.
“It seems we have another tragic case on our hands. The murder of Mr. Garth Cotics.”
He swung his gavel down.
“The court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Delin Quent. Is the defense ready?”
“The defense is ready, You Honor.” Phoenix called out. The judge turned to Murdock.
“Is the prosecution ready?”
“The prosecution is ready, Your Honor.”
“Hmm.” The judge eyed Murdock. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”
“I’ve never practiced in this area before, Your Honor. My name is Matt Murdock.”
“Well, I certainly hope you’re prepared Mr. Murdock. Though, truthfully, this seems like an open and shut case.”
Phoenix groaned internally. It always started like this. It would be nice if the judge could start on his side, for once.
“Does the prosecution have an opening statement prepared?”
Murdock ran his hands over the papers in front of him one more time, taking a moment to reorganize them.
“Of course, Your Honor. The victim in this case is a Mr. Garth Cotics. Police were alerted to the sound of gunshots near the docks, and found his body in a loading bay. Cause of death was a single gunshot to the chest, and the murder weapon itself was left at the scene. The time of death was between midnight and two in the morning. Most notably, his body was found surrounded by illegal narcotics, packed and ready to be shipped.
“Not only was the defendant, a man with a criminal record, apprehended attempting to flee the scene, but his fingerprints were found on the containers holding illegal drugs, placing Mr. Quent at the scene. The evidence leaves little room for doubt who the murderer in this case is.”
It was nothing Phoenix hadn’t seen in the case file; Murdock was surprisingly forthcoming for a prosecutor. But somehow just hearing it out loud still managed to bring a fresh wave of despair. Phoenix didn't let it show on his face, at least. It was too early in the trial to give up. The weight of the magatama in his pocket was a nice reminder. At the end of the day, he only really had one thing to remember in the courtroom.
The judge nodded to himself as Murdock finished his opening statement.
“To be frank, I don’t see how the defendant isn’t guilty in this case. Though it’s unusual, I may be ready to give my verdict now.”
“Hold it!” Phoenix yelled out, hands hitting the desk out of habit. He was vaguely aware of the prosecution reacting in some way, but most of his focus was on the Judge. “You can’t declare a verdict now Your Honor!”
“I can’t? And why not Mr. Wright? Do you have anything to refute the Prosecution’s claims?”
It was too early in the morning for this.
“The Prosecution wants us to believe my client committed a violent act of murder, but he’s forgotten one important thing. What motive did my client have? Murder is perhaps the worst crime of all, not something a person does lightly.”
“Hmm,” the Judge considered for a moment, then shook his head, “Even without a motive, the evidence is very clear.”
“I disagree Your Honor. This evidence was found in a loading bay in the middle of the night. Is there any proof that my client left those prints at the time of the murder? Is there any proof that nobody else could have entered the are or handled the weapon? I didn’t hear the prosecution mention prints on the weapon.”
“...Well, Mr. Murdock?”
Murdock rested one hand on his cane, and reached up with the other to adjust his glasses.
“It’s true we don’t know a motive for the murder. But it’s also true that the defendant has been placed at the scene of the murder, and is a known convicted criminal.”
Phoenix opened his mouth to speak, but Murdock raised a finger, silencing Phoenix without missing a beat.
“Furthermore, at the time of arrest, the defendant was acting strangely. He was tested and found positive for narcotics in his system. In other words,”
Oh no.
“He was high when arrested. On top of his previous criminal record, it paints a picture of a drug deal gone wrong.”
It was like a punch to the gut. That hadn’t been in the case files! How was he supposed to defend against a surprise attack like that? It was never good when he had to start bluffing this early in a trial.
“Objection! Recreational drug use doesn’t automatically make a person a murderer. Besides, my client has no history of drug use. He’s only been convicted of minor thefts. Why would he use drugs in the first place, let alone out in a loading bay that you have yet to prove he has any connection to!”
Murdock grimaced slightly while Phoenix spoke, one hand absentmindedly reaching towards his ear.
“Mr. Wright, with all due respect, are you always this loud, or only when you’re buying for time? His connection has already been proved with physical evidence. With your arguments I’m sure we could spend the entire day going back and forth, but ultimately, the evidence is not on your client’s side.
“However, if this isn’t enough for you, the prosecution does have a witness prepared.”
Phoenix leaned forward, resting his hands on his desk. This was one thing Murdock had conveniently left out of any shared case files. Even if it wasn’t surprising, a witness he hadn’t spoken to or even seen was rarely good news.
Murdock set his cane on the floor with a soft click, turning in the direction of the judge’s bench.
“Bailiff? Could you bring out the witness from the waiting room?”
The bailiff, nodded, paused, then gave a quick “Yes, sir” before leaving the courtroom. It didn’t take long for him to return, the witness shuffling behind him.
The only really distinctive thing about this witness were his clothes. Thick and rough and covered in old stains, it was obvious they were meant for hard work. The fact that he wore layers, a wool beanie, and boots that had left faint marks on the way to the witness stand confirmed that it was some sort of outdoor work. He kept bringing out the same tissue the entire way up to the stand, sniffling like his life depended on it.
Must not be fun to work outside with allergies like that.
On top of everything he looked extremely tired, as if he had been forced to wake up too early. There was the five o’clock shadow of a man who had forgotten to shave and dark circles under each drooping eye. Still, Murdock wasted no time.
“If the witness could state his name and occupation?”
“Oh...I'm...I’m uh...what's my name again? Oh, right, I'm Joe Regular. I uh, I work at the docks. Night shift.”
“And you were working the night of the murder?” Murdock prompted.
“Uh...yeah. I think so.”
The judge looked down at the witness in surprise.
“You think so? You don’t seem very sure of that.”
Joe scratched the side of his nose, his face void of any expression that couldn’t be described as “tired.”
“I’m uh...I’m sure.”
Yeah you sound like it.
Murdock cleared his throat, pulling attention back to him.
“Perhaps we should move on to the testimony?”
The judge nodded in agreement.
“Yes. Mr. Regular, if you could please tell us what you saw that night.”
“Well...like I said, I uh, work at the docks. I’m part of a flow team that moves goods from incoming ships to trucks waiting to go deliver. My shift started at two in the morning. We uh, we gotta get things moving pretty early, you see, so the places the trucks take them can get the cargo first thing in the morning.
“But uh, anyway, not long after I got there I heard a bunch of noise. Sounded like yelling. So I went over there, to see if everything was ok. I saw two guys standing by a bunch of crates ready to be loaded. One of them pulled out a gun, and bang.”
The witness made a half hearted gesture of a gun firing with his fingers. He then took the liberty of pulling out his tissue and very loudly blowing his nose.
“But uh, yeah, that’s pretty much it. I hid and called the cops after that.”
The judge cleared his throat, doing a poor job of hiding his disgust at the witness’s sinus issues.
“Your cross-examination, Mr. Wright.”
It was a simple testimony, straight to the point. Not the kind you wanted as a defense attorney, but still, he’d done more with less. Right?
“Did you see the face of the man wielding the gun clearly?”
“Well it was dark, being night and all, but there are a lot of lights around there. Pretty sure it was that guy.”
He nodded towards the defendant, who responded by sinking into his seat with a sullen expression.
“Let the record show that the witness identified the defendant,” Murdock called out.
How did you even know?
Would it be rude to ask that out loud?
“You’re sure you only saw two men, Mr. Regular?” Phoenix pressed. Maybe he’d get lucky.
“Yup. Kind of weird to see only two guys on a team, but I guess there wasn’t that much cargo.”
“Weird?”
“Yeah, usually you got a small team doing something like that.”
“Did anybody on your team see or hear anything?”
“Dunno.”
Helpful. Presumably the police would have grabbed anybody else who saw or heard anything important, right? If not, Phoenix wouldn’t get help from them now. He could only bring in some mystery witness if he got through today.
There was really only one real contradiction he could see.
“Mr. Regular. You said your shift started at two am?”
Mr. Regular sniffed a few times before answering.
“Yeah…?”
“And you claim you saw the murder happen ‘not long’ after your shift started. Is that correct?”
Now the witness was furrowing his brow.
“Yeah, and?”
“It just seems strange, considering that according to the autopsy report, the victim died between midnight and two a.m. If that’s the case, then how did you witness the murder after two?”
He threw as much bravado behind his accusation as he could, making sure to wag his finger towards the witness for dramatic affect.
“Ugh…” The witness immediately tensed up. Phoenix couldn’t help but smirk a little. It was a good sign when they got tense instead of just surprised. The judge banged his gavel a couple of times to silence the (already pretty quiet) courtroom.
“Mr. Regular, if this is true, then the defense is correct, you couldn’t have witnessed the murder. Do you have an explanation for this?”
Regular took the time to blow his nose again before answering.
“Of course I can. My shift started at two, but I got to work early that day, about one fifteen. That’s all.”
“Hmm...that would explain it. Still, I’m going to have to ask you testify again, Mr. Regular. And this time make sure it’s accurate.”
Of course the judge would let perjury slide, again. Had he ever actually charged someone with that in any of Phoenix’s cases? He couldn’t remember.
Phoenix glanced at the prosecution before the witness started speaking. He’d barely moved during the entire exchange, standing with his hands resting on his cane, head tilted towards the witness as if he was trying to hear better. Maybe he was just confident in his witness and didn’t feel a need to intervene.
We’ll see how that works out for you.
Once again the witness’s voice, punctuated by the now familiar sniffling, filled the room.
“It’s true my shift didn’t start until two, but I had trouble sleeping last night. Figured if I couldn’t sleep I may as well just go in early. So I was there when it happened, and I saw everything clear as day.”
Or maybe it will work out for you.
There was nothing he could say to discredit that testimony that wasn’t pure conjecture. Maybe the witness was lying, but unless he could prove it, he’d hit a dead end.
“That certainly explains the discrepancy. Quite frankly, if the defense has no objections, I believe I’m ready to hand down my verdict.”
“Hold it!” Phoenix slammed his hands down. He could have sworn he saw Murdock flinch a little at the sound, but he pushed on. “You can’t give a verdict yet! I have a right to cross examine the witness first!”
“I don’t really see the point, but you are correct. You may begin your cross examination, then.” The judge said with a sigh. Again, Murdock stayed silent. It was starting to become a little unnerving.
Phoenix looked down at his case files. He’d left them spread out across the desk for easy access. The autopsy report, crime scene photos, data on rifling marks and fingerprints, all laid out before him. There had to be something in here he could use! What had the testimony given him? The was no point in trying to argue the time, right? He couldn’t prove if the story the witness gave for that was true or not. So what he saw was all that was left…
“You seem very focused. Did you not have enough time to review the case files before court today, Mr. Wright?”
It was Phoenix’s turn to jump in surprise. Murdock smirked from behind the prosecutor’s bench. Phoenix felt his cheeks getting warm from embarrassment. The man couldn’t see, how did he even know?
“You went very quiet Mr. Wright. That seemed unusual for you.” Murdock clarified, answering the question Phoenix hadn’t asked. Now this was just getting unfair.
“I had more than enough time, Prosecutor Murdock. In fact, perhaps you’re the one who needed more time?”
Murdock’s smirk froze in place.
“And why is that?”
“I have evidence here that shows your witness didn’t see what he claimed to have seen!”
Why did I say that?Phoenix glanced back at the crime scene photos. If there was anything to help him it was probably there. There were two important photos, one of the entire crime scene, and a close view of the body itself. Phoenix could see familiar lights on the edges of the photos, the kind the police brought in when it was too dark to see properly.
Oh.
Oh.
“Mr. Regular. In your testimony just now, you claimed to have seen the crime ‘clear as day.’ An interesting choice of words, considering the crime happened in the middle of the night.”
“Now hold on,” the witness butted in, “I know where you’re going with this. Yeah it was night, but the docks are covered in lights. You can see them everywhere, brighter than street lights. People work there almost every night after all.”
Phoenix shook his head.
“That may be true normally, but I don’t think it was true that night. If the court would look at the crime scene photo, you’ll notice something interesting. The crime scene is lit up in these photos by smaller police lights. You can even see the blue badger logo on a couple of them if you look closely. If the scene was so well lit, why would they have brought these at all?”
“Objection!” Murdock called from across the courtroom. It was much quieter than Phoenix was used to. “You can also see the building lights in this photo, and parts of the dock lights, correct? Just because the police brought in extra light to examine the scene doesn’t mean there wasn’t enough at the time of the murder for the witness to see the crime!”
Phoenix couldn't help but wonder who had described the photos for Murdock. Did the prosecution office have someone on hand for that sort of thing? Was it rude to wonder about it? It seemed surprisingly accurate at least. It wasn'tas if Murdock could get a good look at the scene himself.
“Objection!” Phoenix pointed towards the top of the photo. “As Prosecutor Murdock said, there are lights visible in this photo. But if you look closely, you’ll notice the one over the crime scene itself is broken!” Phoenix hit his desk again for emphasis. “Though the light is only barely in the photo, this bulb is clearly broken. How could the witness have seen this crime as clear as day if the main light illuminating the crime wasn’t even working!”
Murdock gripped his cane with both hands.
“And how do you know that bulb was broken at the time of the crime?”
“Are you suggesting it was broken in the ten minutes it took the police to arrive? Maybe I don’t have proof it didn’t break in that time, but unless you have proof it did break in that time frame, Prosecutor, then I’d say your theory doesn’t hold any water.”
“Order, order!” The judge swung his gavel a until both lawyers fell silent. “Witness, I have to ask. Did you or did you not see the crime.”
Regular puffed up his chest. “Of course I saw it!” Almost immediately it deflated a little. “Maybe I didn’t see the guy’s face as clearly as I would have liked…”
“So you didn’t actually see the defendant shoot anyone?”
Regular’s voice got quieter.
“Maybe not…”
“Well then. Prosecutor Murdock, it seems your decisive witness was not so...decisive.”
Once again Phoenix slapped his desk.
“I agree your honor. The prosecution has no proof that my client actually committed the crime. There is no way to reach a verdict in this situation, so the defense requests the trial be postponed until tomorrow.”
Murdock spoke before the judge had a chance to respond. If it weren’t for those glasses Phoenix would have thought the man was glaring at him.
“Objection! Even if the witness didn’t see his face clearly, the defendant’s prints were still found at the scene.”
“But not on the murder weapon!” Phoenix interjected. “Why would his prints be at the scene but not on the gun itself if he had committed the murder!”
“Even if he didn’t see his face clearly, the witness saw only two people! Are you suggesting there was a third person hiding just out of sight?”
“It could have been the defendant who was out of sight!”
“Order.”
The judge only swung his gavel once this time, but it was enough. He shook his head once attention focused back on him.
“It seems to me that what we need is more information. The prosecution has a good case, but the defense is making valid points as well. I hope both sides will spend this time finding the truth of this matter. For now, though, court is adjourned.”