The HH-3000 is a bomb that was used to destroy Courtroom No. 4. It was originally intended to be used in the bombing of the Cosmos Space Center, but was found and deactivated before it went off.
Space Center bombing[]
- Main article: The Cosmic Turnabout
In December 2027, an international spy known only as "the phantom" planted three bombs in the Cosmos Space Center to sabotage the launch of the HAT-2 rocket. One of the bombs was the HH-3000, hidden inside a Phony Phanty doll and planted in Boarding Lounge 1. The phantom also had another objective: to retrieve a capsule containing meteorite samples from the Hope probe, where he had hidden a moon rock that was stained with his blood during his murder of Metis Cykes seven years prior. He killed Clay Terran as he was entering Boarding Lounge 1 carrying an unconscious Solomon Starbuck, but before he could retrieve the capsule, his presence was discovered, forcing him to quickly escape, but not before planting the remote detonator for the HH-3000 into Starbuck's pocket to pin the crime on him. The HH-3000 was deactivated by bomb squad member Ted Tonate before it could detonate, and he was tasked with bringing the bomb to Courtroom No. 4 as evidence in Starbuck's trial.
Courtroom bombing[]
- Main article: Turnabout Countdown
Tonate, who was secretly selling bombs on the black market, was greatly impressed by the HH-3000. Although he was easily able to dismantle and reconstruct the device (with five seconds being his best time), he was unable to recreate the explosive mechanism of the bomb due to its complex wiring system. He decided to make off with the bomb, but was caught by Detective Candice Arme. Panicked that she would expose his secret, Tonate fatally bludgeoned the detective with the bomb, breaking its timer in the process. Before she died, Arme was able to write Tonate's serial number (L10015R) on the courtroom floor in her own blood. Tonate then stuffed Arme's body in his bomb transport case and moved the case over the bloody writing to hide it. He then took a photo of the bomb to be presented as evidence, before stealing the bomb as planned.
While all this was going on, the phantom took the opportunity to steal the detonation device. Knowing that the Hope capsule would be among the evidence, the phantom intended to detonate the HH-3000 to destroy it. He did so just as Detective Arme was to be summoned to the stand for her testimony, though thanks to Tonate noticing that the bomb had been reactivated, everyone was able to evacuate. Apollo Justice, Starbuck's defense attorney, was subsequently the only one injured in the bombing.
Tonate took the bombing as an opportunity to rid himself of Arme's corpse, placing her body inside the courtroom ruins to make it seem as if she had perished in the explosion. Shortly afterward, Juniper Woods was put on trial for the bombing and Arme's murder, with Prosecutor Gaspen Payne believing that she had set it off out of anger at the legal system, having been falsely accused once before. During the trial, she and Justice were allowed to search the courtroom ruins for clues, but Woods was eventually called to the witness stand, seemingly leaving Justice alone in the ruined courtroom. In actuality, Tonate was also in the room, striking Justice from behind with a piece of rubble and knocking him out. Using some of Justice's blood, Tonate adjusted the bloody message Arme had left to read "WOODS". Woods was thus also accused of the assault.
However, veteran defense attorney Phoenix Wright was soon able to work out Tonate's misdeeds, thereby proving Woods' innocence. Tonate was subsequently arrested for the murder and the bombing, but insisted that he was not the bomber. In light of this claim, the fragments from the bomb were retrieved as evidence. During another trial, the true identity of the Cosmos Space Center bomber was brought to light as the same individual who had bombed Courtroom No. 4: the phantom. Although the phantom had tried to destroy the moon rock that was stained with his blood, a piece of it was found among the bomb fragments, and the blood on it matched with his.