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Courtroom
Link to the template page
Courtroom No. 5
People to meet Various
Available evidence Various
Linked locations Defendant lobby
Jurists Chambers

The District Court in Los Angeles contains at least nine identical courtrooms. These are the main battlegrounds for defense attorneys and prosecutors. During a trial, the defense attorney argues his or her case against the prosecutor by cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses, usually to find information that contradicts the facts (due to perjury or forgetfulness on the witness's part), though other purposes can be fulfilled in this way as well. Trials are conducted as bench trials, which means that the judge who presides over these trials can freely render the verdict. Under the Jurist System in Vera Misham's murder trial, the judge could still hand down guilty verdicts based on accumulated penalties, but otherwise, final judgment was given to a six-member jury to make by consensus.

Courtroom No. 1[]

Courtroom No. 1 was used for the trials of Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright for the murder of Mia Fey.

Courtroom No. 2[]

Courtroom No. 2 was used for the debut trials of Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice, as well as Mia Fey's second trial, all against prosecutor Winston Payne. They are included in the following:

Courtroom No. 3[]

Main article: Courtroom No. 3

Courtroom No. 3 was used for some pivotal trials for Phoenix Wright, including his only official loss. The trial of Machi Tobaye for the murder of Romein LeTouse led to a trial held under the revived Jurist System, namely the trial of Vera Misham for the murder of Drew Misham. These trials are included in the following:

Miles Edgeworth visited Courtroom No. 3 while investigating the murders of Byrne Faraday and Mack Rell in Defendant Lobby No. 2, which had caused Rell's trial to be canceled. He questioned the judge on what he had heard as he was using a restroom within earshot of the murders.

Courtroom No. 4[]

Main article: Courtroom No. 4

Courtroom No. 4 was used for the following trials, including Mia Fey's as well as Athena Cykes' first trial:

Courtroom No. 4 was bombed during Starbuck's trial, which severely damaged it, however it was restored 5 months later. It also served as a crime scene in and of itself when Apollo Justice was attacked there.

Courtroom No. 5[]

Courtroom No. 5 was used for the following trials, including the Mask☆DeMasque trials:

Courtroom No. 6[]

Courtroom No. 6 was used in the following trials, including the Mask☆DeMasque trials (along with Courtroom No. 5):

Courtroom No. 7[]

Courtroom No. 7 was used in the last two trials of Phoenix Wright prior to his disbarment, namely:

Courtroom No. 8[]

Courtroom No. 8 is not known to have been used by Mia Fey, Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice or Athena Cykes.

Courtroom No. 9[]

Courtroom No. 9 was used in the trial of Lana Skye for the murder of Bruce Goodman.

Courtroom layout[]

Each courtroom contains two long tables at ground level, a semicircular podium situated between them, an elevated desk opposite the podium, and seating areas behind the tables. Stanchions connected by ropes are placed on the ends of the tables and around the back of the courtroom to outline specific areas. A large crest depicting the Scales of Justice is displayed above the judge's bench.

  • The judge's seat is positioned in the elevated desk overlooking the rest of the courtroom. This is where the judge will sit to mediate trials and (in a bench trial) hand down verdicts.
  • The defense bench is the table positioned to the judge's left. It is where the defense team stands during trials.
  • The prosecution bench is the table directly facing the defense bench on the other side of the room and to the right of the judge. Prosecutors stand here.
  • The witness stand is the podium between the two benches. When giving testimony, witnesses stand here. Defendants also stand here when the verdict is being read, unless they are representing themselves.
  • Surrounding the courtroom are gallery seats, which is where the public can sit during a trial to observe the proceedings. These were positioned above the defense and prosecution benches from 2012-2026. In 2027, these seats were moved to behind the witness stand.

In the animated adaptation the courtroom has the same layout but the courtroom now includes wooden fences rather than stanchions to outline the areas of the courtroom. There is also a doorway behind each bench area that leads to the lobbies of the defense and prosecution. A table on which physical evidence is placed is in the middle of the courtroom and large screens are embedded into the face of the judicial bench, hidden behind the wood panels, allowing digital evidence to be displayed or enhanced images of the physical evidence to be projected. The anime courtroom also has a dedicated "dock" area (a place in a courtroom that is reserved for the defendant to sit during proceedings if the court does not seat them alongside their attorney). Oddly the positions of the defense and prosecution are reversed (so, facing the judge's bench, the prosecution stands on the right and the defense on the left - in the game these are the positions typically viewed in the courtroom scenes but these scenes are portrayed from the judge's perspective, facing the witness stand).

Courtroom design during 2012 - 2019[]

Positioned in front of the judge's area is a desk with two chairs, but these have never seen use in any known trial. By 2026, this table was removed from the courtroom.

Courtroom design in 2026[]

Courtroom design in 2027[]

Development[]

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