The trial of Vera Misham for the murder of her father Drew reached its conclusion on October 9, 2026. Being a test trial for the Jurist System, the jury was shown recordings of the proceedings, beginning with the previous trial day. In addition to this unusual setup, after watching the previous trial, the jury was shown recordings from the trial and investigations of a different incident, the death of Magnifi Gramarye.
Final trial[]
| Phoenix Wright |
| ...Welcome to court. Seven years... all leading to one verdict. A verdict which you must decide. Is the defendant, Vera Misham, innocent... or guilty? The courtroom doors are opening... the trial awaits. Are you ready to begin? |
Court was now in session. Klavier Gavin told the judge that Vera had been poisoned with atroquinine and could die at any time. Trucy Wright protested the trial's continuation without Vera's presence, but defense attorney Apollo Justice knew that with the defendant's life at risk, the trial had to be concluded with a final verdict. Klavier knew from experience what a trial without a verdict would do to everyone involved. Justice was also determined not to let that happen. Phoenix had told him all about his investigations over the last seven years, and he was ready to fight for the innocent verdict.
Klavier opened with a claim that Vera had poisoned herself out of guilt for what she had done. It was even more appropriate to him that she had used the same atroquinine poison, which was hard to come by, that had killed her father. Justice insisted that Vera was a victim, not the killer. Klavier gave him two things to prove: who had poisoned Vera and how he or she had done it.
Unlike the day before, Justice was fully prepared: he answered that Kristoph Gavin had poisoned Vera through her bottle of nail polish. Justice had noticed Vera's habit of biting her nails when she became nervous; Kristoph must have noticed this as well and used it to his advantage. As for Kristoph's obvious alibi, Justice said that he could have poisoned the bottle at any time, even seven years ago. The judge found it inconceivable that Kristoph would ever try to kill Vera, but the look on Klavier's face told a different tale. The judge suggested that Kristoph may have to be summoned as a special witness. Klavier complied with this, having known for some time now that there was a deep darkness involved in this case, which had consumed even him.
Kristoph Gavin arrived on the witness stand. Justice showed his former boss Vera's bottle of nail polish. Kristoph confirmed it as Ariadoney nail polish, his preferred brand, and he complimented Vera on her taste in nail polish. He had been following Vera's murder trial from his prison cell. Klavier informed Kristoph that Justice was accusing Kristoph of poisoning Vera, but did not comment on his opinion on the matter.
Kristoph Gavin's tell.
Kristoph argued that the scenario of Vera poisoning herself was far more likely, as Kristoph didn't even know the Mishams. Kristoph asked whether Justice intended to accuse him of Drew's murder as well. Justice focused then and had a fleeting vision of the devil's face on Kristoph's hand. Kristoph was unfazed by Justice's revelation, which proved nothing. However, Justice showed Kristoph the poisoned commemorative stamp, which Phoenix had found in Kristoph's cell, linking Kristoph to the murder weapon.
Kristoph, still unrelenting, told Justice that, had he been the killer, he would not have known whether Drew would have even used the stamp on the night of his murder. Kristoph chastised Klavier for not seeing through Justice's bluff. However, Klavier had now realized that Kristoph was the one who was bluffing, using a red herring argument to distract from the real matter at hand, which was merely whether Drew had used the stamp. The timing of the death was a coincidence.
Disturbed by Klavier's betrayal, Kristoph asked Justice what the motive was. Justice realized that Kristoph was beginning to falter; he had delayed this question, afraid that this was a battle that he might lose. Justice presented the fake diary page from Zak Gramarye's trial, which the judge recognized. He argued that the killer had intended to erase everything and everyone connected to the forgery. However, the killer had made a mistake. Vera had ended up preserving the commemorative stamp in a frame, rather than sending it back, and there it had sat for seven years.
Klavier declared that if Justice's theory was true, then the real killer would be none other than Phoenix Wright, as he was the one who had requested the forgery. However, Justice countered that it was impossible for Phoneix to have done so, because he had been hired only the day before the trial. Justice instead pointed to Zak's previous attorney, whom he had fired, and accused Kristoph of being this attorney. However, Kristoph pointed out that, since attorneys are registered with the court the day before the trial begins, there would be no trace of Zak's previous lawyer in the court records. Klavier then desperately demanded evidence to clear away his doubts and to take away the darkness plaguing him. The judge warned that a heavy 40% penalty would follow an incorrect claim, but Kristoph asked to double the stakes. The judge noted that he hadn't given a penalty as large as 80% in a long time. Nonetheless, Justice had the proof he needed: the yellow envelope.
Kristoph protested. Because Phoenix had failed to steal the yellow envelope, the one that Justice had was a replica in Phoenix's handwriting, intended merely to present the information therein to the court. Justice revealed that Phoenix had recorded his entire conversation with Kristoph. Kristoph angrily insisted that such a video did not constitute evidence. The judge agreed and denied the defense's claim.
The trial appeared to be ending, but Klavier suddenly interrupted, expressing relief that his questions from seven years ago had been answered. Kristoph tried to manipulate Klavier into shutting up by pointing out he could lose his reputation as a prosecutor and his fans as a rockstar, but Klavier stood up to him. Justice realized that something was odd about Zak Gramarye's trial, namely that Klavier had known all along that Phoenix would present the fake diary page. Klavier revealed that Kristoph had informed him that Phoenix would be his opponent and that he would present bogus evidence, and instructed him to bring out Drew Misham to testify. Klavier had wondered at the time how Kristoph had obtained such information. Klavier confronted his brother again, accusing him of originally intending to win the trial unfairly with forged evidence.
Kristoph, now having little left to lose, humored Klavier's demand. Before the trial date, Zak Gramarye had invited Kristoph to play poker. Kristoph had lost the game, and Zak had promptly dismissed him as his attorney. Kristoph could not understand what had happened; as far as he could tell, he had been fired because he had lost in a card game, and then he had been replaced by Phoenix Wright, "a second rate attorney who relies on luck and bluffs!" Justice recognized that Zak hadn't been watching the result of the game at all; he had been looking at the man behind the cards. Kristoph expressed his opinion that Zak and Phoenix had both gotten what they deserved, though he still did not admit to the murder. Justice and Klavier could work out the details from there, however; Kristoph had intended to use his fake evidence to win the trial, but when he was dismissed, he had taken revenge on both of them, passing the fake evidence onto Phoenix as a trap through Trucy Enigmar.
Kristoph was unfazed, declaring that everything had gone perfectly. Klavier laughed in response, as he had realized the truth: Kristoph had been living in fear for the past seven years. Because Zak Gramarye had disappeared from the courtroom, no verdict had ever been given for him. If Zak ever reappeared, or the Mishams talked, the fact that Kristoph had ordered the forgery would have become known, and his cover-up would have been blown. Desperate to protect his secret, Kristoph had kept tabs on all parties involved in the Magnifi Gramarye case: the Mishams, Brushel, and Wright. After seven years, Kristoph had killed "Shadi Smith", who Justice revealed was really Zak Gramarye.
It had all started seven years ago, with Magnifi's death. Knowing that whoever defended Zak successfully in court would garner much fame among the public and respect in legal circles, Kristoph had found someone he could hire to do the unthinkable: forge evidence. He had met with Vera to fabricate a page from Magnifi's journal that would implicate Valant Gramarye instead of Zak. He noticed that whenever Vera became nervous, she had a habit of biting her nails. Not wanting her to talk about his involvement, Kristoph had laced a bottle of Ariadoney nail polish with atroquinine and lied to her about the nail polish being a magic charm. If Vera was ever forced to go outside and become nervous, she would bite her nails, and the poison would do the rest.
Kristoph had also tried to kill Drew by sending him an invoice for the forgery that he had ordered, and included a stamp laced with atroquinine. However, Vera had liked the stamp so much that she had kept it, and Drew send the receipt back with a different stamp. Kristoph had failed to kill the Mishams, until his time bombs went off seven years later.
Kristoph was unmoved, believing that Justice could not make his case stick without decisive evidence connecting him to the atroquinine. He once again denied knowing that Shadi Smith was Zak Gramarye, and pleaded silence on his motive for Smith's murder. Justice protested this, but Kristoph reminded him that Justice and Klavier were the ones who had caused Vera to bite her nails in the first place. Kristoph then concluded, "Evidence is everything. There is nothing more."
As the judge prepared to end the trial, Klavier interrupted Kristoph's gloating. This particular case was a test trial for the Jurist System, which meant that a panel of jurors would decide the case. Decisive evidence was no longer necessary. The judge explained that the old system had been deemed too "closed off" from society, and that this system was an attempt to inject the wisdom of the common people into the law. Kristoph protested angrily to this. "What could we possibly gain by doing this? Entrusting our judicial system to a mindless, emotional mob of irrational mouth-breathers?" The judge replied that the common people added the factor of common sense, which was not restricted by the letter of the law. Kristoph insisted that the courts keep "riff-raff" out. Justice replied that the jury he had just insulted was watching him on camera, and then added his own salt to the wound: Phoenix Wright was behind the Jurist System's setup.
| Kristoph Gavin |
| Phoe... Phoenix Wright? |
Kristoph completely lost his calm demeanor and began screaming that the law was absolute. Klavier remarked at the irony that his brother, who had taken advantage of loopholes in the law, would make such a claim. The law was not absolute, but full of contradictions.
| Judge |
| The law is the end product of many years of history... the fruit of human knowledge! Like a gem, polished to a gleam through trials... and errors. It is this fruit we receive, and pass on, and face in our time. And it is always changing, growing. Nurturing it is our task as human beings. |
| Klavier Gavin |
| Except for you, Kristoph. You aren't changing. You've stopped. You're not needed anymore. |
Justice was unable to come up with a speech of his own, perhaps because he was still inexperienced. However, he vowed that he would find out what law truly was, and that he would fight to change it if he had to.
The judge declared an end to the trial, and now awaited the jury's decision.
Verdict[]
- 12:48 p.m.
It was now time for the jury to deliver the verdict. Phoenix reminded the jury that having a verdict that day was of utmost importance, as Vera might not live through the night. A panel had been set up for each jurist to input their decision. Jurist 6 questioned her validity as a jurist, because according to the Jurist's Handbook, "Persons involved with the case may not be jurists." Phoenix reassured her that, as she wasn't involved with the development of the case, she was a legal juror.
| And so a verdict was reached on October 9, 2:14 PM. The first verdict under the Jurist System. ..."Innocent", by unanimous decision. The record will show that when the verdict was announced, special witness Kristoph Gavin... laughed. A laugh louder than any ever heard before... or since. A laugh that echoed in the halls of justice, lingering for what seemed like hours. |
Aftermath[]
| October 10, 8:30 AM, the morning after the trial... In an intensive care ward... a true miracle occurred. Vera Misham opened her eyes. |
- 10:12 a.m.
Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright arrived at Vera Misham's hospital bed, overjoyed with the news. Vera smiled and thanked Justice, being much more open and outspoken than before. Justice apologized for making Vera bite her nails, but Vera replied that she was in the wrong. She had been living in fear of the outside world, with only her "good luck charm" to comfort her. She knew now, after having Justice fight for her with all of his might, that it was important to see the outside world. Vera also apologized for what she had done to Phoenix Wright, saying that she would stop looking away from her deeds.
Trucy told Justice that she had known about her father's death all along. After all, she had helped Zak with his escape. Zak had told her that he would return, but that couldn't happen now. Trucy said that that was fine because she had Phoenix and Justice now.
Meanwhile, in the Wright Anything Agency, Phoenix Wright was meeting up with another survivor, Thalassa Gramarye, who had recovered her sight and her memory. Thalassa wondered if Phoenix had known that she was Lamiroir all along, but Phoenix merely said that she was thinking about it too much, and that there was no guarantee that regaining her memory was for the best. Thalassa disagreed; she was happy to know that she had two children and that they had both grown up so well. Phoenix told Thalassa that he had not informed the two about their mother and that they were both unaware that they were related. Thalassa replied that she would tell them some day, when the time was right, and Phoenix promised to take care of both of them until then. Phoenix was especially worried about Trucy, as he knew that she was secretly devastated by the death of her father.
Phoenix then remarked that, of all the strange things he had seen, the bracelets were the strangest of them all. He recalled seeing Justice with it, and then meeting Thalassa. He would never forget witnessing the two lives cross each other.
Thalassa then reminisced about her accident. Though she had lost her memory then, now, she had regained herself. Phoenix noted the parallel between Thalassa and Vera, remarking that people don't die that easily, as long as they have something worth living for.
| Apollo Justice |
| And that's pretty much the end of my story. For now, anyway. I've still got a long way to go. And this power of mine... well, it needs some work. But... there's hope now. We'd lost it, but somehow, we found it again. That's why people are smiling again... Hope. Yeah, I think I'll keep at this lawyer thing for a while. Oops, training time. Gotta go. Chords of Steel... here comes Justice! |
