Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All – Part 10-2

It’s clear that both Adrian Andrews and Matt Engarde still have their secrets: Secrets which will be vital to the final day of trial.

We’ll need to uncover those secrets if we want uncover the full story.

At last, we come to the crux of what makes Farewell, My Turnabout such a great case in the Ace Attorney canon. Our client, Matt Engarde, is, without a shadow of a doubt, the person who hired Shelby De Killer to assassinate Juan Corrida. For the first time, Phoenix Wright is in a position where he must defend a guilty man.

Up until now, all of our clients have been innocent of the charges laid against them. Whatever their crimes were, murder was never one of them. Though circumstances are complicated by Maya’s abduction, the question is posed as to whether or not it is morally correct to mount a legal defense for someone who is guilty.

Many words can describe me, but “lawyer” is not one of them. This question is probably better off answered by someone who can call himself a “lawyer”. However, as a layman, I do wish to point out a few factors that should be considered when answering. (I look forward to being crucified by lawyers for completely butchering basic legal concepts.)

• The US legal system specifically runs on the presumption of innocence. By the laws of my country, an accused person is presumed innocent until there is sufficient evidence to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. As Ben Franklin once said, “it is better that ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man be imprisoned.”
  
• To the end, our law grants that all accused persons are entitled to a fair trial and a legal defense. By that system, imperfect as it is, we still recognize that prosecution is a power that, without checks, can be wielded by the state against even the innocent, especially when those in power have ulterior motives for those prosecutions. For that reason, these rights are afforded to the accused such that this power is wielded judiciously.

To that end, I almost wish that Maya wasn’t kidnapped, and that Phoenix had to tackle this issue on a deeper, more philosophical level. However, that would be an entirely different script and I can’t fault the game developers for having their own vision and sticking to that vision. My curiosity is, frankly, not their problem.

But Matt Engarde’s guilt certainly is. And soon, we’ll finally get to the trial.