Part 91: Episode 4, Day 2, Trial: Guilt Trap
Part 91: Episode 4, Day 2, Trial: Guilt Trap
This one's a little tricky, because it's indirect and it seems like a few pieces of evidence could apply. Ultimately, though, the contradiction is this: Why would she be looking only at the boat, if she were out there looking for Gourdy and had just heard the noise that indicates Gourdy has appeared?
Additionally, she had said in her first testimony that the only thing on the lake was the boat, and on pressing she was sure about that fact because she was scanning the whole lake, not watching the boat the whole time:
And the reason she was scanning the whole lake, was to look for Gourdy. So the right evidence to present here is the Gourdy Article, on which she already admitted she was out there looking for Gourdy.
We can actually present our evidence on any of the last three lines of the cross, but the middle of those makes the most sense here.
Music: Silence
Ms. Hart!
W-what's with you!? Course I was looking at it!Sound: Whack
I agree, any normal person would.
Sound: Desk Slam
Music: Telling the Truth
But you are far from normal!
You were camping at the lake to take a picture of Gourdy!Sound: Desk Slam
Think about it-- What would you do if you heard a loud noise?
Sound: Drama Pound
You wouldn't give the boat a second thought!
Aah!Sound: Stab
Sound: Gallery
We've got the crowd going again with that one!
Sound: Gavel
Order! Continue, Mr. Wright!
However, you wouldn't need binoculars to watch that boat!
Sound: Realization
...!Sound: Stab 2
...
...Sound: Desk Slam
Well!? Hmph... Well, now that y'all mention it...
I mean, Gourdy might be out there, n' all...
M-Ms. Hart!Sound: Light Bulb
Sound: Whack
...Music: Silence
S'sorry, y'all.Sound: Realization
I wasn't fibbing, really.
I kinda got excited.
Exhibit A on why eyewitness testimony is the worst form of evidence. She heard there was a murder and Edgeworth was the suspect and her brain outright fabricated a memory of having witnessed it.
...
Sound: Whoops
Music: Telling the Truth
B-but hey!Sound: Whack
Sound: Damage 2
Hmm...
Right! Right!Sound: Light Bulb
Music: Silence
Sound: Fwa-Shing 2
Witness... That's enough.
You know, I was wondering whatever happened to the photo enlargement. It must've shown something that Karma doesn't want us to see.
Sh-shut my what!?Sound: Realization
(What was she going to say?) (She took the photo... and what?) (Wait a second...)
Flashback time!
But you really can't tell from the photo who is shooting.
That's why she said she's going to enlarge the photo.
Enhance!
Music: Suspense
(She enlarged that photo!) (Why won't von Karma let her show it?)
Sound: Shock 2
(I've got a hunch!)
(This is my chance!) (If I'm wrong, though, it'll mean prison for Edgeworth... or worse.)
Welcome to our first guilt trap. As Phoenix hinted in the previous line, getting this choice wrong is an instant guilty verdict and game over. Fortunately, this choice is easy - it's pretty obvious that doing nothing isn't going to work here, given where we are with this case.
quote:
If we wait and see what happens instead...
The game is generous with this guilt trap, giving us an opportunity to change our mind. We're prompted this time to choose between "Do nothing" and "Rethink position". Uh, let's nest one deeper for the second choice.
quote:
If we "Rethink position", we end up back on the original timeline:
With this single line, we continue as if we had chosen the other option at the first choice (below).
quote:
Continuing to "Do nothing", on the other hand...
Music: Silence
Sound: Gavel
And none too soon. That was a flagrant waste of my time.
I would argue about the "decisive witness" aspect of this monologue, but I guess we missed our chance at that.
(Oh no! I should have pressed further!)
Sound: Stab 2
Sound: Gavel
G u i l t y
Sound: Guilty x 6
You'll notice we slipped into the regular "guilty" dialogue at the end there. Can't say we weren't warned...
Music: Silence
Sound: Swoop 2
Sound: Desk Slam
Ms. Hart! Look at this photograph.
Y-yeah! I did!Sound: Light Bulb
Sound: Whack
That one was weak, Karma.
What're y'all talking about!?Sound: Super Shock
This situation is why, in the US, prosecutors are legally required to disclose to the defense any evidence they have or discover that could be considered exculpatory (meaning: tending or serving to clear the defendant from alleged fault or guilt). Not that it stops a lot of them from trying to avoid it anyway; a local DA here just got sanctioned for repeatedly violating this rule, including a case where for over four months they withheld evidence that proved a defendant's innocence, providing it just six days before the trial. There's even a name for this rule - the Brady Rule, named after a Brady v. Maryland criminal case in 1963 where two separate defendants were accused of the same murder, and even though one of them had confessed, the other (Brady) was still convicted because the confession was not disclosed. The case went all the way up to the US Supreme Court where it was ruled a constitutional violation (Fifth/Fourteenth Amendments), establishing the rule thereafter.
You old fool!Sound: Objection
Sound: Gallery
Sound: Gavel x 3
Sound: Whack
Er... erm... Ms. Hart!Sound: Desk Slam
Sound: Objection
Music: Pressing Pursuit - Cornered
There's still one aspect of the Brady Rule that we have to apply here - proving that the missing evidence is actually beneficial to our case.
Sound: Whack
The witness will show the enlargement to the court. Here it is.
Ah. Some of you spotted this one in the prologue.
Hmm. We still cannot see who is firing in this.
Regardless, I'll accept this as evidence.
Sound: Select Jingle
The new enlarged photo replaces the prior version in our court record.
Sound: Fwa-Shing 2
Happy now, Mr. Wright? Hmm... (There has to be something!)
And little good it has done any of us!
Looks like Karma knows how to bluff, too. But he's not fooling us here.
Hmm... I suppose this means that the cross-examination... Is over! Obviously!Sound: Gavel
Music: Silence
And none too soon. That was a flagrant waste of my time. Mr. von Karma, do you have anything to add?
If you've been reading the alternate timelines, this scene is similar to if we had given up and done nothing earlier...
Decisive evidence. A decisive witness. What else could possibly be required?Music: Suspense
Nothing, of course.
(Wait... it's not supposed to go like this!)
Partial guilt trap here; the right choice is obvious, though we get an additional option for presenting other evidence instead.
Music: Silence
Sound: Desk Slam
Your Honor!
Sound: Drama Pound
quote:
Presenting evidence seems like it could work here, but it's just a bit too soon...
Sound: Desk Slam
(Not my typo...)
Music: Silence
At this point, we're brought back to the last prompt to try again. Picking the same "evidence" option just repeats the same scene over and over, without penalty.
quote:
Waiting is still a trap - we're barely staving off a guilty verdict, and need to actively avoid it.
Sound: Stab
Music: Silence
Sound: Gavel
Sound: Stab 2
Sound: Gavel
And we get the rest of the guilty scene from here. No second chance on this second guilt trap!
Music: Pressing Pursuit - Cornered - Variation
W-what might that be?
Sound: Gallery
I'm not sure why we get a crowd reaction here, we haven't actually done the big reveal yet.
Sound: Gavel
Mr. Wright...
We've got a penalty attached to this next choice, but at least it's not an instant game-over...
(Okay... here goes nothing!)
Hard to vote for where to click in the photo, but I'll do something a little different here. I overlaid a grid on the photo, and filtered out the uninteresting squares. So tell me, which grid square shows what's strange about this photo?