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Roland Smith was a land developer who was engaged to Luce Allaire. He was a crucial player in the trial of Rose Allaire for the murder of Marcus Payne.
Life, revenge, & downfall[]
Smith grew up poor in California, his happy memories with his father ruined by an accident that threatened their fishing trips together. Smith's father borrowed money, but collectors, including loan shark Marcus Payne, would beat his father in front of the boy. Payne in particular robbed him of his pendant, which he later used to hold his heart medicine. Smith was sent to the foster system before his father killed himself, and Payne expanded his operations.
Devastated but determined, Smith built his company from the ground up and hoped being a land developer would bring his hometown the glory he desired. He met Luce Allaire and became engaged to her, encouraging her dreams toward a career in the law. But Smith was horrified when Payne loaned money to the Allaire family and swore to deal with him, especially after seeing his father's pendant. After witnessing Payne have a heart attack at a dinner the Allaire family hosted, Smith disguised himself as a nun in a church, stole Payne's heart medicine when he had a fatal episode, and kicked him before leaving. When Luce's mother Rose tried to give Payne some medicine and then call for help, not realizing she had inadvertently poisoned him, she was arrested for his subsequent death.
Luce went to Phoenix Wright, Rose's former student, to defend her mother in court. Wright succeeded and Smith was conclusively identified as the culprit. When detained, he swore to Wright that the case was not finished. He then hired thugs to kidnap Maya Fey for the ransom of Smith's acquittal, as well as shoot and injure Franziska von Karma, the prosecutor for Rose's trial, in order to sabotage the proceedings. In spite of the revelation of Payne as a criminal and the possibility that he could have died naturally, Smith's guilt was proven once the pendant was found to have been picked up by Luce when he dropped it, thereby proving Smith had stolen it.
Smith broke down on the stand and confessed, revealing the truth about Payne and his own motives for killing him. He also criticized the prosecution and defense for having the education and opportunities he himself had toiled for. They were genuinely sympathetic, but Wright told Smith he risked stooping to Payne's level, not just from killing him, but breaking Lue's heart enough she almost gave up on her dream of becoming a lawyer. Smith was horrified and accepted his punishment, reconciling with the Allaire family and wishing he had met Wright sooner before he was taken away.
Note[]
- The second half of Gyakuten Saiban 2: The Truth Reborn, Again... is loosely based on the events of Farewell, My Turnabout, with Roland Smith playing a similar role to Matt Engarde.