What An Idiot / Ace Attorney

WARNING: Unmarked spoilers for who the killers are, and other stuff that's important to the case.

This is a series based around breaking down faulty logic and lies to get to the truth. In the spirit of the series, here's a few cases of faulty logic we've discovered ourselves.

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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

• In the very first case, Frank Sawhit murders Cindy Stone in a state of panic after she returns home while he is ransacking her apartment. Frank knows he is in deep shit now.
  You'd Expect: Frank to run away and go into hiding for a while until the heat cools down.
  Instead: He tries to find someone to pin the murder on and decides to place it on Larry Butz. Not only does Phoenix Wright take the case since he's Larry's friend, but Frank also has to testify as a witness and he proves to be an extremely Bad Liar.
  As a Result: Phoenix quickly deduces that Frank is the true killer and successfully pins the crime on him.
• Later on, in the same case, after Phoenix reveals that the clock was 'three hours slow', Sahwit's last defense is asking him how he knew the clock was going slow the day of the crime, claiming that if he can't, he has no case.
  You'd Expect: Phoenix to point out simply that his discrepancy of the actual time to the clock lines up perfectly with his belief of the time with the actual time of death. And even then, demands he gives a real explanation of the other things stacked against him, such as how he knew the statue was a clock or how he really thought the time was one A.M. if not the clock.
  Instead: Phoenix never thinks to bring this up.
  As a result: Phoenix has to get saved by Mia so he can bring up the actual reason, even if it was pretty easy to deduce without it the clock was slow, or, in that case, fast, at the crime scene.
• In the cases 1-2, 1-3 and 1-4, Phoenix has gotten hold of evidence against the person he suspects is the killer, in the case of 1-4, 100% proving the suspect's guilt.
  You'd Expect: Phoenix to keep his mouth shut about this and take the evidence to a safe place - like his office.
  Instead: In all three of those instances, he confronts the suspect outside of court, in an unofficial setting with no witnesses, and then presents the evidence and tells them how he can nail them for the crime.
  As A Result: He gets accused of the murder himself, almost killed by The Mafia, and tazed by the suspect who then steals the damning evidence, respectively. Made fun of here.
• In the second case, master blackmailer Redd White has circumstantial information and evidence found about his blackmail schemes by Phoenix who is in his office accusing him of being the murderer. Just before, he has already proven that he can influence the chief prosecutor such that he can get out of testifying solely due to his blackmail and has already cleaned out all the truly incriminating evidence that Mia has found against him.
  You'd Expect: That Redd would continue to use his blackmail to keep himself out of testifying in court since Phoenix doesn't have any actual decisive evidence pointing to him as the murderer and use the same to have Phoenix arrested.
  Instead: Redd decides that since Phoenix refuses to stand down to his threats, he'll prove just how much better he is by browbeating the chief prosecutor into putting forward Phoenix as the real murderer despite all evidence found so far outright contradicting this and then personally testifying to this in a public court where he can't threaten to blackmail people into submission since blackmail itself is a serious offense.
  The result: Phoenix, a rookie but still talented defense attorney, easily rips apart Redd White's careless testimonies which he doesn't even try to match up with the established facts from yesterday's trial.
• Case 1-4:
  • Miles Edgeworth gets a letter from "Robert Hammond" requesting him to come to Gourd Lake to meet him.
    You'd Expect: That Edgeworth would be suspicious; he doesn't remember Robert Hammond all that well, so this could be a trap.
    Instead: Edgeworth goes to Gourd Lake anyway.
    As a Result: This allows the murderer to frame him for Robert Hammond's murder.
    Furthermore: The murderer shoots at Miles Edgeworth twice and misses on purpose in order to create a witness then falls into the lake but leaves the pistol behind to frame him.
    You'd Expect: Miles Edgeworth to not touch the gun at all, even if he was dazed and confused about what just happened. He is a prosecutor so he should know about fingerprints and ballistic markings.
    Instead: He picks the damn thing up, causing even more unneeded further suspicion to fall upon him, and him to fall prey to the Murderer's trap to frame him.
    Luckily: His childhood friend Phoenix Wright defends him, and finds an automatic camera coincidentally set up near the crime scene that shows the shooter shot with their left hand, while Edgeworth picked up the gun with his right, disproving the fingerprints at the time of the shooting. Larry Butz's testimony then proves the murder took place at the Boat Shop 25 minutes earlier when Miles Edgeworth was not even near the Boat Shop or Gourd Lake, thus proving Miles Edgeworth could not have done the shooting and murder after all.
  • Phoenix cross-examines the boat rental house owner's parrot to link him to the DL-6 incident and prove he's the murderer. Unfortunately, prosecutor Manfred von Karma planned for this and re-trained the parrot not to say "Don't forget DL-6".
    You'd Expect: He'd also train the parrot not to say any of the other things that can link her owner to DL-6, like the combination to her owner's safe (1228, the date of the incident), or her own name (Polly, named after the murderer's fiancée before she committed suicide due to the incident).
    Instead: He doesn't, and when Phoenix gets Polly to say the safe combination and her name in court and point out how they relate to DL-6, von Karma attempts to pass these off as coincidences. The judge doesn't buy it.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Justice For All

• In the first case, Winston Payne is investigating the death of policeman Dustin Prince, and discovers that Dustin apparently wrote the name of his killer in the sand just before he died. However, the autopsy report reveals that Dustin died from a broken neck as a result of a fall.
  You'd Expect: Payne to realize that Dustin would most likely be paralyzed from the neck down, and therefore incapable of writing anything down. Even if he still had had motor functions after the broken neck, the autopsy report also points out that Dustin died on impact, and thus, Payne would disregard what Dustin "wrote" as an attempt to lay a false trail.
  Instead: He treats it as valid evidence. Makes one wonder why he's still employed.
  Even Worse: Phoenix, whose job it is to poke holes in the prosecution's case, no matter how insignificant they may seem, doesn't point out this contradiction (attempting to do so results in a generic "wrong evidence" response and penalty), instead mentioning that Dustin wrote the message with the wrong hand and spelled his girlfriend's name wrong. At least Payne has the excuse of being too incompetent or lazy to apply scrutiny to a supposedly decisive piece of evidence.
  However: To be fair to Wright, he was hit in the head just moments before, was suffering from amnesia and thus, not knowing how the human body works is, in this case, a forgivable mistake.
• In case 2, Phoenix just finished proving Maya innocent for the murder of Dr. Turner Grey against Manfred Von Karma's whip-carrying daughter Franziska, who is clearly distressed after having her perfect win record broken.
  You'd Expect: Phoenix would quietly celebrate his victory and say nothing to further provoke Franziska, who spent the trial whipping him, the witnesses, and even the judge at the slightest provocation.
  Instead: Phoenix takes the opportunity to gloat and rub his victory in Franziska's face.
  The Result: An enraged Franziska decides to give Phoenix a victory present in the form of fifteen lashes, knocking him unconscious as the "Not Guilty" verdict is rendered.
• In the backstory of case 3, Russel Berry finds a note on the cafeteria wall apparently addressed to a murderer. He deduces that is is addressed to his daughter, who the writer holds a grudge against because of his brother's grievous injury as a result of a joke said daughter was trying to pull, which accidently resulted in said injury.
  You'd Expect: Russel to confront Acro right now, or maybe the next day. Acro greatly respects and is appreciative to Russel for taking him in, so he can probably be talked down from his plans.
  Instead: He goes alone to the meeting place at the time the note said to.
  The Result He gets killed unknowingly by Acro, and an innocent man is almost convicted of his murder, as well as saddling Acro with the guilt of killing the man who took him in.
• Case 4:
  • The case is known mostly for the Hostage Situation. This Hostage Situation was caused by a moment of idiocy: namely, when a bellboy told Maya she has a phone call from someone (as Maya assumes, from the Kurain Village).
    You'd expect: Maya to not believe the bellboy at all or at least tell Phoenix about the supposed call.
    Instead: Maya goes to pick up the supposed call without telling anyone.
    The result: The bellboy turned out to be an assassin who wanted to kidnap Maya for ransom, and he succeeded with that. He then threatened Phoenix to kill Maya unless he obtains an acquittal for Matt Engarde. This becomes a Sadistic Choice when it's revealed Matt is guilty as sin, because if Phoenix would prove a killer innocent, he'd become a Broken Pedestal for Maya, and Phoenix knows it.
    Worse: Kidnapping Maya was unnecessary, as Maya was a fan of the Nickel Samurai, who was played by Matt, so Maya would have asked Phoenix to defend Matt anyway. This means that a lot of the angst was caused by a moment of idiocy. It's no wonder reasonable parents tell their kids not to listen to strangers.
  • After Detective Gumshoe gathered some evidence dropped by Shelly de Killer while the latter was escaping with his captive, he heads back to the courtroom by his car.
    You'd expect: Him to at least abide by the traffic rules, given that he was part of the police force, for his own safety's sake and to ensure the evidence wouldn't get damaged.
    Instead: He rushes past every single red light he sees while talking on the phone with Edgeworth.
    As a result: He crashes his car, gets injured, and breaks his phone, losing contact with Wright and Edgeworth as well as delaying the arrival of the evidence into the courtroom. Had it not been the tracker placed onto him by Franziska, allowing her to find his location and delivering the evidence, Wright would not have been able to solve the case.
  • Maya has been taken hostage by an assassin as "insurance" that his client will be acquitted of a "job" the assassin did for him. Phoenix and Edgeworth are working together to stall the verdict as long as possible — Phoenix reluctant to get 'Guilty' for obvious reasons; Edgeworth equally reluctant to get 'Not Guilty' because he knows the client is guilty as sin. At a pivotal moment, Edgeworth finds a way to get the assassin himself to testify in court, via radio.
    You'd Expect: Edgeworth would never be so foolish as to expect the assassin to give information that could damn his client. Doubly so since a man who'd already taken a young girl hostage to get an acquittal would never hesitate to lie on the stand.
    Instead: Edgeworth directly asks the assassin to tell him the name of his client.
    Result: The assassin rambles pleasantly about how the client-assassin relationship is sacred — and then names an innocent (but plausible) person as the one who paid for the hit.
  • Matt Engarde hires Shelly de Killer (a man who actively despises traitors) to kill his business rival, and then has the assassin kidnap Maya Fey to get Phoenix Wright to take his case.
    You'd Expect: Engarde to just let de Killer do his job as normal and sweep the incident under the rug once it's all over.
    Instead: Engarde hides a spy camera in the victim's room so he can record the moment de Killer snuffs his target out.
    Then: Once Phoenix Wright finds out the truth, through the camera, Engarde gloats to his attorney about how he can use the footage as blackmail against the assassin.
    Result: Wright exposes Engarde's attempt at blackmail to the assassin. De Killer then breaks his contract with Engarde, and puts HIM on the assassin's hit list. Engarde is forced to confess to his crime to hide from de Killer.
• On Franziska's entire over-the-top Whip of Dominance gimmick, using her whip on the defense, the witnesses, and the judge whenever she pleases, with witnesses such as Lotta even complaining about it.
  You'd Expect: The Judge to call Franziska out on it for bringing a weapon such as that into court, yet alone using it, especially on him and penalize her, if not outright remove her from the courtroom altogether.
  Instead: He never penalizes her for it. Not even once! It's one thing to have a bias toward the prosecution, and another turn a blind eye to every terrible thing they do.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Trials and Tribulations

• In the backstory, Iris starts dating Phoenix while pretending to be Dahlia to get her hands on evidence that her sister needs, but eventually falls in love in him. After several months of a happy relationship, but without any success in getting the evidence, Dahlia gets impatient, tries to kill Phoenix, and when that fails, unsuccessfully frames him for murder. Iris finds out that Phoenix was devastated after what happened and wants him to be happy.
  You'd Expect: Iris would realize that Phoenix is hurt because he mistakenly thinks that the girl he loved tried to kill him, and tell him the truth. Surely he wouldn't feel worse about the fact that his girlfriend lied about her identity, but otherwise loved him, than by the thought that she tried to murder him for some stupid necklace.
  Instead: She thinks he will be better of not knowing anything about her and disappears from his life for the next five years.
  As a Result: Phoenix spends years thinking such a thing and has conflicting feelings when defending her for murder.
• Case 3:
  • Furio Tigre offers to waive client Glen Elg's $100,000 loan if he gives him a highly valuable computer virus which he created, which Tigre can use to pay off his own debts to the mob. Elg then meets Tigre at a local restaurant to hand over the virus, but hears that day's winning lottery numbers on his radio, and begins shouting about how he's won $500,000. This creates a problem for Tigre, who urgently needs the virus, which Elg (apparently) now has no need to hand over.
    You'd Expect: Tigre to persuade Elg to give him the virus anyway, pointing out that he could keep the whole $500,000 for himself and do a lot of gambling with it (Elg being a compulsive gambler).
    Alternatively: He could just kick the crap out of Elg and take the CD containing the virus by force, since Elg wouldn't really be able to go to the police over the matter, as he would incriminate himself for creating the virus to begin with. In either case, you'd think Tigre would at least find out what Elg intends to do with the money and the virus.
    Instead: While Elg is celebrating his win, Tigre poisons his coffee with potassium cyanide, causing Elg to immediately die when he drinks from the cup. Tigre then uses the restaurant's owner, Jean Armstrong (another client deep in debt) to help carry out an elaborate plan to frame a waitress for the murder, then impersonates Phoenix Wright in court to get the waitress jailed. Surprisingly enough the plan actually works for a while... until the case is taken to a retrial.
    As a Result: Further idiocy from Tigre in the courtroom exposes him as the true killer.
  • At the end of the second trial, Phoenix has presented a bottle with Tigre's fingerprints on it, and claimed that it once held the poison that killed Elg. It's a lie, and Tigre knows this.
    You'd Expect: Tigre to ask what proof Phoenix has that his bottle once held the poison, and then watch as Phoenix's lie is revealed. Or better yet, remain silent and let the prosecutor who clearly knows Phoenix is bluffing, call him out on trying to manipulate the witness.
    Instead: Tigre proceeds to describe in detail the real poison bottle, thus proving himself to be the killer. He actually proves his own guilt, which is very rare in-universe.
    You'd Then Expect: Tigre to think of some last-ditch excuse for how he would have known about the bottle, such as saying that Jean told him about the details of the case, or he actually did see Maggey putting the poison in Elg's coffee, but mistakenly thought it was just sweetener and didn't want to admit that he missed an opportunity to save Elg's life. Under the Ace Attorney universe's court system, the onus is on the defense to disprove any theories put forward by the prosecution and/or witnesses, and the fact that Phoenix is presenting fake evidence proves he's out of options.
    Instead: Tigre resorts to ineffectually threatening Phoenix, and then undergoes a Villainous Breakdown.
    As a Result: He gets convicted of the murder, and now has no way of repaying his debt, so he's probably worm food.
  • In the case's first trial, despite having a completely different build, complexion and accent from him, Tigre manages to put together a very good Phoenix disguise, with the exception of Phoenix's attorney badge; Tigre's is made of cardboard, and barely resembles the real thing.
    You'd Expect: Someone to notice this and realize that as far as they know, this attorney's a fraud.
    Instead: Tigre is allowed to represent the waitress in court, and he subsequently puts her on death row for a crime she didn't commit. In the second trial, Phoenix even lampshades how idiotic it is that anyone would be tricked by the fake badge. To add insult to idiocy, the one guy who recognizes Tigre as a fake (Godot) doesn't tell anyone else, solely because he doesn't want to be involved in cases that don't involve Phoenix.
• Case 5:
  • Dahlia Hawthorne was tasked by her mother, Morgan Fey, to kill Maya Fey. The plan doesn't quite go as intended, however, and Phoenix Wright is able to deduce that Maya is currently channeling Dahlia as they speak.
    You'd Expect: Dahlia to realize that she has complete control over Maya's body right now and evacuate the courtroom to destroy her target. While it won't go according to Morgan's initial plan, the end result would still be the same.
    Instead: Dahlia just stands around and does nothing, gives in to Mia's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and lets herself get exorcised from Maya's body, thus freeing the spirit medium from Morgan's plan once and for all. Add one more to Dahlia's list of failures for Mia to gloat about to her face.

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

• During the last witch trial, Phoenix learns that the Cloak of Invisibility that Kira was wearing at the crime scene isn't invisible at the moment because the baking powder that Patty threw at the Vigilantes have stained it. As such, the Judge permits Phoenix and Maya to go to Labyrinthia's water fountain and wash it off.
  You'd Expect: For Phoenix or Maya to hold onto the cloak tight, since it'll become invisible once it's washed off.
  Instead: Maya just drops it into the fountain, and it vanishes.
  It Gets Worse: Once the cloak becomes invisible, Phoenix and Maya are unable to see where it went.
  You'd Expect: For Phoenix to rummage his hands around the fountain for the cloak, since invisible doesn't equal intangible.
  Instead: He immediately returns to the courtyard without looking thoroughly, explaining to the Judge that he lost the cloak and doesn't understand why it vanished, despite it being a Cloak of Invisibility.
  Luckily: Kira has a spare cloak that she covers in powder to make visible, and the spare is added to the Court Record.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 2

• Case 3:
  • After Edgeworth solves the poisoning incident, it's revealed that Katherine Hall was setting up a trap in which whoever mistook the Pisces sculpture and the Gemini sculpture (which turns out, is actually the body of a murder victim.) and opened up the Pisces case would get poisoned and revealed themselves to be the killer of the IS-7 incident. Kate's trap worked and Dane Gustavia tried opening up the case and ended up poisoned. When he recovers he claimed that he just wants to have a good look at the sculpture.
    You'd Expect: For someone to just ask "Why are you trying to admire it WITH A GAS BURNER?!"
    Instead: Nobody questions that obviously suspicious behavior.
    As a Result: Edgeworth spends the rest of the case trying to argue about the past incident when his current actions were enough to get him in jail.
• Case 5:
  • To ensure that Patricia Roland gets cleared of all charges at her trial, Blaise Debeste not only tries to dispose of the decisive evidence against her, he decides to arrange the kidnapping of John Marsh, the adopted son of the presiding judge, in order to blackmail her into giving Patricia an acquittal.
    You'd Expect: That the kidnappers would be able to recognize their target. It shouldn't be too hard for them, given that Blaise could easily give them a physical description of John, and that John's a reasonably well known child actor.
    Instead: They end up grabbing Blaise's son Sebastian, a guy who looks absolutely nothing like John. To add insult to idiocy, the only thing they do to identify their target is ask if he knows Justine, despite the fact that there would be loads of people who fit this description; her friends, fellow judges, the lawyers in her trials, and so on. Blaise only manages to get any leverage on the judge after someone else decides to kidnap John, completely by coincidence.
    It Gets Worse: Because Sebastian was due to prosecute at the trial, he's replaced at the prosecutor's bench by the far more competent Franziska von Karma, who is persuaded by Edgeworth to help stall the trial until the evidence Blaise tried to get rid of can be found. Sebastian's kidnapping also allows Edgeworth to rescue him and give him a much-needed confidence boost.
    Result: Sebastian takes a Huge Level in Badass and utterly NAILS his father for obstruction of justice. As a result of all this, Patrica's conviction is all but assured.
  • After he returns to the trial, Sebastian presents a piece of old newspaper Blaise used to dispose of the evidence. Further examination reveals a handprint with the word "DEATH" spelt out on the fingertips, just like the motorcycle gloves Edgeworth found in Blaise's garage.
    You'd Expect: Edgeworth and Sebastian to immediately connect the handprint to Blaise's gloves.
    Instead: Edgeworth wastes time calling for a fingerprint analysis, which predictably turns up nothing, other than the fact that the handprint's from a glove. Blaise immediately calls the two of them out on their stupidity, and it's one of the few times in the game where he makes a valid point:
    Blaise: Just think about it, y'know. When handling important evidence... what kind of idiot wouldn't use gloves!?
  • Simon Keyes has just committed murder of a (fake) president on the roof of the Grand Tower, and knowing that his plans for the night would be ruined if a dead body was discovered there, he moves the corpse to a nearby warehouse. Of course, he can't just leave the body there either, so he makes plans to get rid of it.
    You'd Expect: Him to just dump the body in a lake or the ocean, or anywhere else where someone's less likely to stumble upon it. Or hell, just throw the body from the roof of the tower; at best it'll be ruled a suicide, and at worst the police may suspect foul play, but the body will be too badly pulverized to get any useful clues from.
    Instead: After seeing John Marsh cause an accident at a nearby film lot, he gets the idea of dumping the corpse at the accident scene to frame John for the murder. There is no reason whatsoever for him to do this; John was never part of Simon's original plans, and neither was anyone discovering the body of the man he killed.
  • Edgeworth and co. have discovered Simon's involvement in both this case and the other events of the game, and are confronting him over them. Just like Simon planned, the body was discovered along with "evidence" that John was the killer.
    You'd Expect: Simon would try and convince everyone to treat the murder as an accidental death. After all, John's admitted to causing the accident in the first place, and it would explain the body's condition and the manner of death. Most importantly, the case can be closed without it being connected to him at all.
    Instead: He claims to have sent John a letter that prompted him to commit premeditated murder, and practically orders the assembled investigators to arrest him for it. This is despite the fact that one of the investigators is John's adoptive mother, and that it's his word against that of John and his mom. Unsurprisingly, this doesn't work out for him.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

• The game's third case begins with Romein LeTouse, a music agent and, as it later turns out, undercover Interpol officer, being shot dead with an extremely powerful revolver, the kickback from which is said to be enough to severely injure anyone who fires it without the proper training. The body then temporarily goes missing, but is eventually found with the unconscious Machi Tobaye, a (supposedly) blind 14 year-old pianist who speaks no English.
  You'd Expect: Someone, anyone to realize that there's just no way that Machi could have committed this murder. Even accounting for the fact that he's not actually blind, it'd have been difficult at best for him to move the body, and flat-out impossible to use the gun. At most, he may be (and was) the murderer's accomplice, and even then there's any number of explanations as to how he could have ended up with the body.
  Instead: Machi is immediately charged with the murder of LeTouse. No-one ever disputes the feasibility of what he's being accused of, and it's not until it's proven that LeTouse was killed at a time when Machi had a solid alibi that anyone seriously starts to doubt his guilt. The game is supposed to indicate that this was due to detective Daryan Crescend (the culprit)'s manipulations of the crime scene, but it's rather hard to swallow him being able to convince the court to overlook something this major.
• The game's last trial:
  • The flashback to Zak Gramarye's trial from seven years ago. Phoenix is accused of using forged evidence after it is revealed that one of his pieces of evidence, a diary page supposedly written by the deceased, was in fact created by an art forger a few days before the trial.
    You'd Expect: Phoenix to point out that he only took on Zak's case the day before the trial, and therefore wouldn't have had any time or reason to commission a piece of forged evidence. Or, failing that, at least opine to the Judge about how much the truth means to him, and how he'd never resort to forging evidence just to win a trial.
    Instead: Phoenix just assumes the judge won't hear his explanation (based on him asking whether the Judge would listen and the Judge saying "Probably not" in response), doesn't defend himself, and is subsequently disbarred.
  • The trial that disbarred Phoenix came about due to Klavier noting that Magnifi's diary stops at a certain point which describes the two notes he sent to Zak and Valant. His point is that there's nothing after the last words, which to him proves that Zak did it. There is clearly a torn page next to it, which Klavier doesn't point out and the Judge doesn't notice. Phoenix is given one last chance to prove otherwise, but is told not to bring up the diary again since "there's nothing else to point out".
    You'd Expect: Phoenix to ignore Klavier's threat and still bring up the diary and point out that there's a torn page next to it, meaning that something was written after Zak left, then request a test on the blank page next to it due to the pressure of the missing page leaving an imprint on the page below and ultimately not pull out the super-suspicious diary page he was randomly given before the trial.
    Instead: Phoenix adheres to the threat and pulls out the super-suspicious diary page, which later disbarred him.
    At Least...: Phoenix encounters this exact same situation much later in Spirit of Justice with a different diary and spreads fingerprint powder over the blank page below and reveals writing impressions, turning it into a foothold for his argument.
  • On the second day of Vera's trial, Apollo essentially accuses Kristoph Gavin of commissioning the forged evidence that got Phoenix disbarred, on the basis that he had planned to get himself hired as Zak's attorney, and was prepared to do anything to win, knowing that he would get a huge amount of prestige if he got Zak acquitted.
    You'd Expect: Gavin to point out that, by that logic, Phoenix is just as much a suspect as he is regarding the forgery.
    Instead: It never occurs to Gavin to do this.
  • Apollo later claims that Gavin is the real killer, and that he sent a poisoned stamp to Drew Misham, the victim. The idea was that when the victim used the stamp, it would kill him. Gavin then claims that he couldn't be the killer because he had no way of knowing when Misham would use the stamp, therefore he couldn't have planned the murder.
    You'd Expect: Apollo or the Judge to point out that this is irrelevant, since either way, Gavin sent something to the victim with the intent of killing him with it. Just because Gavin couldn't have planned the timing doesn't mean he didn't plan to kill Drew Misham.
    Instead: Both Apollo and the judge buy this line of logic, and Apollo's case is only saved thanks to Klavier Gavin, Kristoph's brother, pointing out that Kristoph is bluffing.
  • Near the end of the final trial, Apollo presents a letter in a yellow envelope that Wright copied from Kristoph’s mail in his holding cell. Kristoph promptly dismisses the letter as illegal evidence and throws ad hominems Wright’s way despite Apollo vouching for the copy’s legitimacy.
    You'd Expect: The Judge to send someone to search Kristoph’s cell for the original letter. Worst case scenario, Kristoph discarded it ahead of time, but even if he did, they still have Wright’s recording to go off of.
    Instead: The court does no such thing, and the copy letter is disregarded.
  • During Phoenix's investigation into the events of seven years ago, Zak is revealed to have had the real diary page all this time.
    You'd Expect: Him to admit this in court, taking the heat off of his lawyer who's currently in the frying pan for supposedly forging evidence.
    Instead: He runs off and becomes a fugitive, never mentioning the diary page until later.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Dual Destinies

• In the second case, Apollo discovers that Mayor Tenma was being blackmailed by Florent L'Belle, effectivelly giving him a motive for murdering the case's victim. He even gets a letter confirming it.
  You'd Expect: Apollo would keep the letter hidden from L'Belle so that he can use it later.
  Instead: In a way very reminiscent of rookie Phoenix, Apollo shows the letter to L'Belle, who promptly destroys it without Apollo even noticing until it was too late.
• In the third case, Professor Aristotle Means has just committed murder and has the perfect plan to pin the crime on his student, Juniper Woods. He creates a fake crime scene, manages to dispose of the body without any detection, and creates a credible alibi for himself. On top of all that, he intends to get himself appointed as Juniper's defense attorney, just to make sure that she gets convicted.
  You'd Expect: Means would just let things run their course at this stage. Even though Means couldn't fully complete his plan because Athena volunteered to be Juniper's lawyer before he could, he's still created a crime scene that has an entire academy of law students and staff totally fooled.
  Instead: Means outright tells one of the witnesses to lie to the investigating attorneys about a piece of forged evidence, knowing full well that a) the witness could testify to this fact, b) the defense could deduce that the evidence is fake, and c) the detective could link this false evidence to him and determine that he's the actual culprit.
  As a Result: All of that happens, and he winds up convicted of the murder (and shatters his own teeth in the process).
• From the fourth case: Yuri Cosmos, a space mission director, is informed of a potential bomb plot a few days before a rocket launch. It is probably similar to the attack from seven years ago that led to the death of one of his crew members (and gave post-traumatic stress disorder to another). Despite his pleas, the government refuses to listen to him and cancel the launch.
  You'd Expect: Cosmos would feign some unexpected repairs or technical difficulties with the rocket to delay the launch. Or break protocol and cancel the plans anyway, privately explaining the situation to the current crew and disregard his job security in place of saving lives.
  Instead: Cosmos tries to save the crew on his own by switching the actual launch site with one that was retired as a museum, but only tells the plan to one of the astronauts and a few other staff members, while drugging the other astronaut into having no recollection of the actual events. The bomb goes off resulting in costly damage, while the perpetrator escapes and manages to kill one of the crew anyway. The drugged crew member (coincidentally the one suffering from PTSD) is then charged with his colleague's murder, and as for Cosmos himself, his demotion causes him to lose his director position of the space center that is named right after him.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Spirit of Justice

• Prior to the start of the game, Nahyuta Sahdmahi, then a member of the Defiant Dragon rebels, becomes a prosecutor in the hope of reforming the corrupt justice system of Khura'in from within. Unfortunately for him, Queen Ga'ran discovers his intentions and starts blackmailing him into becoming her lackey by threatening his mother and little sister.
  You'd Expect: Nahyuta to try and inform the rest of the Defiant Dragons of his situation, with the suggestion that they rescue his family and take them somewhere outside of Khura'in, where Ga'ran can't touch them. Dhurke, the leader of the Defiant Dragons, just so happens to be Nahyuta's father, an absolute Papa Wolf and, as revealed when he meets Apollo in the present day, an expert when it comes to prison escapes.
  Instead: Nahyuta just resigns himself to being Ga'ran's lackey and becomes complicit in the deaths of dozens if not hundreds of innocent people by perpetuating the corrupt status quo until near the end of the game's last case.
• At the start of the first case, head monk Pees'lubn Andistan'dhin is forced to kill Paht Rohl, a security guard-turned-thief, due to Rohl having stolen the sacred chest which contains the Founder's Orb, and thus being in a position to expose the fact that the Orb (his original target) has already been removed from the chest. Rohl just happened to be threatening one of the temple's junior monks, Ahlbi Ur'gaid, at gunpoint when Andistan'dhin fatally hit him over the head with a musical instrument.
  You'd Expect: Andistan'dhin, who is in cahoots with the country's Minister of Justice, Inga Karkhuul Khura'in, and know it's in both their best interests for the matter to stay out of the courts, to just claim that Rohl was about to kill Ur'gaid in order to cover up his theft and escape, and that he killed Rohl in order to save Ur'gaid's life. If it comes down to it, Inga can probably see to it that the investigation doesn't go anywhere.
  Instead: Andistan'dhin decides to frame Ur'gaid for both the theft and the murder. And while that's admittedly not as dumb an act as it might usually have been for this series, seeing how Khura'inese courts have no lawyers and a virtually 100% conviction rate, the trial not only leads to a bunch of needless publicity over the theft of the Founder's Orb, but attracts the attention of the visiting Phoenix Wright.
  Leading to: Andistan'dhin being outed as the true killer.
• In the second case, in an attempt to prove that Trucy knew about the studio's prank (which would mean her apparent actions were intentional murder rather than an accident), Retinz brings forth a typed note of instruction addressed to Trucy's assistant, demonstrating knowledge of the prank with Trucy's signature at the bottom.
  You'd Expect: Apollo to stare at Nahyuta for a few seconds and then say "Who in God's name would type a note, and then sign it?", point out that such an action would be highly time-consuming compared to just writing the whole note by hand, and then immediately produce the trick carbon paper clipboard Apollo already knows Roger Retinz used to fake Trucy's signature on another document.
  Instead: Apollo says nothing, apparently stumped by how Trucy's signature could possibly get on a document she didn't write, and lets the court day end there, causing public opinion to turn extremely sour against Trucy until the next day.
• Then there's how Trucy's signature got on that note in the first place, though that fact isn't relevant to this example: Trucy is signing a contract for her TV appearance. From Apollo's reaction, it seems like she's doing so without the benefit of council:
  You'd Expect: Being the business manager of a company that employs lawyers, the two Juniors being at hand, Trucy would consult with one of them to see if there are any glaring traps.
  Instead: She signs away. That signature ends up putting the firm on the hook for $3,000,000 if something goes wrong... which it does.^note Said $3,000,000 figure was in the concealed contract, but since nobody witnessed the signing it becomes Trucy's word against Roger's as to which contract Trucy intended to sign.
  Granted: The aforementioned Lawyers are Criminal Defense Lawyers and probably wouldn't know much about Contract Law. However, they could give basic legal advice while buying time to get a proper Contract Lawyer.
  Alternately: As the business manager and her own agent, Trucy should have an accounting firm on retainer, who themselves could have hooked her up with a Contract Lawyer.
• In the third case, after Datz's testimony is proven to be nothing but lies, Nahyuta suggests that Maya plotted a complicated scheme involving disguising a statue as Lady Kee'ra and stabing Inmee from behind to make it look like Kee'ra did it.
  You'd Expect: Phoenix to point out that Inmee ran towards Lady Kee'ra, something Maya couldn't possibly predict and without it the plan to make it look like Lady Kee'ra did it would be impossible since he would see her from distance. In addition, if Maya HAD moved up behind him, her footsteps would have been picked up in the Divination Seance.
  Or at least: Point out that Nahyuta has absolutely no evidence backing up his theory. And since Datz was there and his testimony was a bunch of lies, he could very well disguise himself as Lady Kee'ra, making him just as much of a suspect as Maya (although he at least had the alibi of being unconscious at the time, which was proven).
  Instead: He does nothing as the judge accepts Nahyuta's theory as a fact.
  As a Result:: Maya ends up looking incredibly guilty. Only the discovery of another body and subsequent need for a second trial saves their necks.
• The game's fourth case. Nahyuta is investigating the murder of Taifu Toneido, who was found suffocated to death in his room. While at the crime scene, he notices a message spelled out with Karuta cards that implicates Bucky Whet as the murderer.
  You'd Expect: It to occur to Nahyuta - or anyone involved with the case, really - that a man being suffocated to death probably wouldn't be able to spell out a dying message with cards, if he even decided to prioritize that against fighting off his attacker.
  Instead: Everyone bar Simon treats the cards as damning evidence.
  As a Result: When the case goes to trial, it turns out, surprise surprise, that the cards were rearranged by the killer after Taifu's death.
• Related to this, there's the message that's being spelled out "OWEN 4TH," that's supposed to reveal the killer's identity. Uendo's Kisegawa personality is the first to notice the message.
  You'd Expect: Uendo to realize that there are only a handful of people who know who or what "Owen" is, so the odds of him being arrested based on that are slim. Even if Geiru, the true killer and one of the few who knew about Owen, decided to testify, she'd risk implicating herself as the one who framed Owen.
  Instead: Kisegawa changes the cards around so they say "WHET NO 4."
  The Result: Bucky gets arrested for Taifu's murder, and Uendo is presumably charged with tampering with the crime scene.
• In the third case, Phoenix finds out from Datz that Apollo is Dhurke's youngest (adopted) son.
  You'd Expect: Phoenix would keep quiet about this information, especially considering that Dhurke only sent Apollo to the United States/Japan in the first place because his life was in danger as long as he was in Khura'in.
  Instead: Phoenix TELLS GA'RAN THIS TO HER FACE.
  Result: Ga'ran whispers something to her guard, thanks Phoenix for telling her this interesting fact, and Apollo narrowly avoids being taken by the guards.
• In the final case of the game, the obviously guilty Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in has her soldiers hold Wright, Apollo, and Nahyuta at gunpoint as a last resort to get them to retract their accusation against her, sentencing them to immediate execution and branding them as terrorists for attempting to leave Khura'in without a ruler.
  You'd Expect: The soldiers to immediately fire and kill the three on the spot. Even if she isn't found guilty, Ga'ran has already exposed herself as a monster to her people at this point, so it's not like she has much to lose anymore. Or if she's worried about causing an international incident by summarily executing two American citizens, then just have Phoenix and Apollo taken into custody, then deported under threat of execution if they ever return to Khura'in.
  Instead: Ga'ran and her cronies break Rules 4, 6, and 14 of the Evil Overlord List and let Apollo and co. live just a little longer.
  Result: Apollo exploits a political criteria in Khura'inese rule that revokes Ga'ran's claim to the throne. Though she attempts to weasel her way out of her predicament, even asking to have a lawyer defend her despite brainwashing her country to be anti-lawyer, her staff turn on her when it's revealed her claim to the throne is faulty, and she suffers a Villainous Breakdown.
• The DLC case's backstory. A surgeon is set to operate on his own fiancée and his fiancée's brother after both are involved in a car crash. The fiancée begs that the surgeon operate on her brother first, despite her own injuries being far more severe.
  You'd Expect: The surgeon disregards his fiancée's request, and operates on her first. Her intentions are certainly selfless, but she's the one in the most danger of succumbing to her injuries, so she should receive treatment before the less-critically-injured patient.
  Or At Least: For the family to hire a second surgeon so both of them get lifesaving treatment at the same time. It's not like they're strapped for cash, given the size of the mansion they're living in.
  Instead: The surgeon does as his fiancée asks, he stays on as the only surgeon, and she dies.
  As a Result: The surgeon proceeds to harbor a huge grudge against her brother for something that only came about because of him. While it is possible that Selena could not have been saved, this possibility is never brought up and apparently did not factor into the surgeon's decision.

The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures

• In the first case, before the trial begins, Satoru Hosonaga (a detective posing as a waiter) draws a map of the crime scene on the back of his business card.
  You'd Expect: Hosonaga to redraw the map on a different piece of paper, since it's likely that he'll have to hand in the map as evidence.
  Instead: Hosonaga does not redraw his map, allowing Ryunoske to see the card.
  As a result: His true occupation is revealed to the court anyway.
• Also in the first case, Jezaille Brett, really international hitwoman Asa Shiin, has just carried out what should be an untraceable murder of John H. Wilson when Ryunosuke Naruhodo walks up to talk to Wilson. It should be noted that not only is Ryunosuke a potential witness to Jezaille's crime, but she's heavily xenophobic.
  You'd Expect: That she'd reign it in and keep professional. So what if Ryunosuke can possibly finger her for the murder? She's a government assassin posing as a foreign exchange student and thus can't be tried in a Japanese court of law. She'd have to be sent to the nearest British court of law where her employer can insure that she gets off scot free.
  Instead: She decides to frame Ryunosuke for Wilson's murder with an admittedly simple method, but without double-checking to make sure everything is in place to leave no evidence of her involvement.
  Result: Ryunosuke averts A Fool for a Client and successfully defends himself in court by proving Jezaille was the real killer, impressing his friend Kazuma enough to bring him to Great Britain where he eventually brings about the downfall of the man who hired Jezaille to clean up loose ends.
• In the second case, as part of framing Ryunosuke for Kazuma's death, Bif Strogenov forges a dying message by having Kazuma write down "wardrobe" in Russian.
  You'd Expect: All the characters to question it instantly, since it would be very unlikely that the clearly Japanese man would know Russian, not to mention that if the victim were trying to leave a dying message, it would make far more sense to write the killer's name rather than the location.
  Instead: Almost everyone accepts it without question.
  As a result: Ryunoske is believed to be the culprit, and it's refuted only because the autopsy report says that Kazuma died instantly.
• While riding on a public omnibus, Magnus McGilded and Mason Milverton (working in his son's stead) try to make a deal involving money and a disc that secretly contains a top-secret government communication. However, Mason starts arguing with him and refuses to give up the disc.
  You'd Expect: McGilded to try offering a higher payment as part of negotiations since it's still very valuable information. Or if he finds it pointless to try negotiating with him, he could simply move the deal to another location so that he could do whatever he wants to Mason without any witnesses.
  Instead: McGilded stabs Mason right there and then, and the aftermath is seen by two men above them and an urchin girl hiding underneath McGilded's seat.
  Result: McGilded goes through many steps to hide his true involvement in Mason's murder, and after McGilded is acquitted, to avenge his father's death, Ashley Graydon has a goon trick McGilded into going into the omnibus and burn it, which kills him.
• In the fifth case, Graydon tries to retrieve one of the two music discs from Gina Lestrade, who got it from claiming it at the pawnbroker's.
  You'd Expect: Graydon to simply buy it from Gina and claim that it's an old music disc that he wants to have because he's a collector or something like that.
  Instead: He claims that Gina stole his coat and his disc, but Herlock and Ryunosuke prove him to be a liar.
  As a Result: Graydon doesn't get his hands on the disc.
  Not Only That: He and Gina get involved in a short scuffle, which causes him to shed some blood on the disc, and the blood later connects him to the killing.
• At some point, Ryunosuke proves that Graydon lied in his witness account, because the peephole through which he had supposedly seen the crime had actually been made by Susato after Graydon had fled the scene.
  You'd Expect: Ryunosuke to argue that Gina's innocence has just been proven, since as Van Zieks pointed out earlier, if Graydon lies, then he will have incriminated himself as the killer.
  Instead: Ryunosuke doesn't make this argument while Van Zieks continues to argue against the defense, and Graydon chooses not to explain himself.
  As a Result: Ryunosuke has to go through much more time to prove that Gregson told Graydon about the peephole and was given the second music disc in return before Graydon's guilt is established at last.

The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve

• Due to the events of the first game, Jezaille Brett is to be shipped to Shanghai, the closest British court to Japan, for her upcoming trial.
  You'd Expect: That she'd learn her lesson from last time and lay low and not be a xenophobic asshole since it got her into trouble the first time around.
  Instead: She haughtily demands to see the beach the day before her extradition, even going so far as to brag and belittle a Japanese reporter hoping for a story.
  Result: Said reporter kills her using a poison he happened to be smuggling that day. Which is doubly bad because as a government assassin, she was vital to the Big Bad's schemes. If she had just remained professional, he could have had a chance at getting what he wanted.
• In the first case, Raiten Menimemo poisons Jezaille Brett after she pisses him off with her offensive comments toward the Japanese. He uses a poison that he earlier stole from Yumei University, but when overhearing Rei Membami's conversation with Brett, he realizes that it's top secret and easily tracable, which makes it obvious where it came from.
  You'd Expect: Menimemo to realize that even if he were suspected briefly, as long as the authorities could not determine that he had stolen the poison by using his pen, it would not be a problem, so the mystery of who had stolen it would stay unresolved.
  Instead: Menimemo tries to hide the fact that she was poisoned by stabbing her from behind.
  As a result: Susato is able to determine such a stabbing, Raiten is discovered, and is not only found guilty of the murder, but the theft of the poison anyway.
• Furthermore, after stabbing her, Menimemo lingers around the scene and sees Rei try to save Brett by taking the knife out.
  You'd Expect: Menimemo to make himself scarce to make sure that he won't even be summoned to court as a witness.
  Instead: He takes a picture of the scene and secretly sends it to the prosecution in an attempt to frame Rei, but because the lens of his camera is slightly broken, the picture of Rei and an unrelated picture that Menimemo took make it instantly obvious that the one who took the picture was Menimemo.
  Result: Menimemo is summoned as a witness, and he is proven to be the culprit.
• In the last case, Gregson and Kazuma go to the Grouse as part of a mission to assassinate Jigoku. Kazuma leaves midway, and so Gregson tries to kill Jigoku by himself, but Jigoku wins and kills him.
  You'd Expect: Jigoku to simply report it to the authorities, since it's a valid case of self-defense, and it's not as if Jigoku needed to hide his presence at the crime scene, since it's his room, after all.
  Instead: Jigoku thinks of an elaborate scheme to frame it on a man known as Hugh Boone, which involves hiding the body in the ship's fridge, smuggling it through his suitcase (since, as the Minister of Justice, he has the authority not to let his luggage be inspected), and faking the shooting in the room that Boone is renting.
  As a Result: Jigoku is eventually found out as the killer, and his scheme with Stronghart is exposed.
• After killing Gregson and refrigerating his corpse, Jigoku notices that the victim had a bag of fish and chips that fell out of his pocket, and has started to spoil as it was left out overnight.
  You'd Expect: For Jigoku to just throw the bag out. Even if the investigators found it odd that Gregson didn't have his Trademark Favourite Food with him, they wouldn't be able to explain why he didn't have it, and it would be impossible to find a bag of fish and chips in the trash miles away from the supposed crime scene and prove that it belonged to Gregson.
  Instead: Jigoku puts the bag back in Gregson's coat pocket.
  As a result: The discrepancy between the freshness of the corpse and food proves that the date of death had been tampered with.
• It turns out that Stronghart and Jigoku went to the graveyard on the night of Genshin's "execution" so as to fetch him and take him back to Japan. However, just as Genshin leaves the grave, Enoch Drebber, a grave robber, spots him, which throws a monkey wrench in their plans.
  You'd Expect: Stronghart and Jigoku to kill Drebber, since as far as they know, he's just a nobody, so his death will be easy to cover up, and it's likely that Genshin will keep quiet about it.
  Instead: Jigoku, ordered by Stronghart, kills Genshin, which ultimately causes Genshin to be framed as the Professor and for his son, Kazuma, to become a defense attorney and prove his father's innocence. Furthermore, Klint van Zieks' will incriminating Stronghart, the reason Stronghart agreed to smuggle Genshin back to Japan, is lost because only Genshin knew where he hid it, and comes back to bite Stronghart ten years later.
• During the trial, Ryunosuke finds Klint's will hidden in Karuma, and the will turns out to be a confession in which Klint admits to being the Professor and to having been blackmailed by Stronghart.
  You'd Expect: Stronghart to deny the contents of the will and argue that since Klint was compelled by Genshin to write it, the accusation toward Stronghart could very well be a lie or at least a groundless suspicion, and that explanation will, in all likelihood, be enough to convince the judiciary.
  Instead: Stronghart openly confesses to being the mastermind behind the Professor killings and the deaths caused by the Reaper, thinking that he can convince the judiciary to keep the truth hidden from the public lest all trust in the legal system fall.
  Result: It is then revealed that the Queen has been secretly listening to the whole trial and has ordered Stronghart's arrest, which causes him to go through a Villainous Breakdown.

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