Right % Wrong

Phoenix's most prominent character trait is his faith and trust in his clients. Even if the whole world turned their back on his client, he wants them to know that he will believe he or she is innocent and will do his very best to defend them in court. It all goes back to that mock trial in his elementary years; he doesn't want anybody to have to suffer the humiliation he did back then. Plus, that feeling of being defended is soothing. Phoenix wants others to experience that warm feeling.

But what happens when his philosophy as a defense lawyer is challenged?

things changed

When a TV star, Juan Corrida, is killed in his studio, his rival TV star Matt Engarde, is accused of the murder. Also, at the same time, Maya is kidnapped! Phoenix is already in a lot of chaos, but to make it even more complicated, Phoenix receives a call from Maya's kidnapper. The kidnapper tells Phoenix that he must take on Matt's case and get him a not guilty verdict in two days, "or else ..."

Well, it starts off simple enough. Using his magatama, Phoenix found out that Matt indeed did not kill anyone. So it would be like a normal case for him, the only difference is that Maya's life hangs in the balance, right? Just think of it as a challenge, right?

How wrong he was! The case was actually ten times more complex than he thought he was, and it threw all his morals off balance. To his horror, even though Matt did not kill Juan himself, he had actually hired an assassin to do the job for him! Now the assassin wants Phoenix to free his client Matt for him, or else Maya gets it.

Phoenix had always believed that his clients are truly not guilty. While Matt was certainly not guilty in actually killing Juan, he played a humongous part in Juan's death -- he was the one who ordered it to happen! Phoenix did not know what to do and was thrown into confusion because he knew his client was not completely innocent. But does he continue defending him? It is his job, after all. What should he do? Phoenix didn't know whether to continue, knowing that his client is actually guilty, or to stop and quit. However, quitting meant putting Maya's life in danger. It was a terrible dilemma.

Oppurtunity

When Phoenix had the oppurtunity to pin the murder on someone else -- Matt's manager, Adrian Andrews -- by skewing the story and presenting the evidence in a different light, Phoenix realized he couldn't do it. It would have been so easy to do it, but he couldn't just put all the blame on an innocent person in order to win his case. Having a good win record wasn't the most important thing to Phoenix. Phoenix is all about revealing the truth.

So how does Phoenix handle the case? Phoenix managed to convince the assassin into thinking that Matt has been dishonest with him and no longer considers Matt his client (actually, Phoenix did a little manipulating there). The killer, you see, is very 'professional', but was not too happy that Matt secretly filmed him committing the deed. The killer hints that his next target is going to be Matt! Now Phoenix can win. Not the case, but he will win what he wants: he'll get Maya back and Matt will go to jail!

The whole experience was really important for Phoenix. He discovered what it really meant to be a defense attorney, and what it meant to be defending someone. Defending someone in court wasn't neccesarily winning, not for Phoenix. It was letting the truth be revealed.