Flashback

What pushed Phoenix into becoming a defense attorney? After all, pursing a career in law is very difficult, especially if you want to be well known. Well, the memory from his childhood certainly contributed to him becoming a defense attorney. When nobody else believed in him, Miles Edgeworth stood up for him. Even just having one person believe in you was such a great feeling, Phoenix wanted to be able to help others and defend them too, to let them know that even if the whole world points their finger at them, he will still believe in their innocence.

Accusation

Another event that pushed Phoenix towards becoming a defense attorney was back when he was a university law student. A fellow student, Doug Swallow, had died due to electrocution by a live wire, and Phoenix unfortunately became a suspect as he was the only person who saw him before the incident, not to mention having gotten into a nasty argument with him earlier. The supposed story is that Phoenix had pushed Doug into the wire because he was mad at Doug for hanging around his girlfriend Dahlia too much lately. Of course, Phoenix denied having ever done such a thing!

However, the cops were building a case against him and hauled him to court, so Phoenix had to hired a defense attorney. He became inspired by his defense attorney, Mia Fey. Even though Phoenix was unco-operative and was hurting his own case with his word vomit, Mia stuck by him, determined to prove him innocent. She wanted him to see the light, that the person who actually pushed Doug and was now trying to frame Phoenix for the murder, was his so-called girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne!

Dahlia was trying to kill Phoenix actually, because years ago, she was accused of a murder by poison. Dahlia gave the necklace with the bottle containing the poison to Phoenix, pretending it was a gift of love, to rid of the evidence. She needed it back now, but Phoenix didn't want to give it back, so Dahlia decided to kill Phoenix for it. Her plans changed when she saw Phoenix arguing with Doug.

Phoenix had indeed given Doug a push, but left afterwards and Doug was fine. Dahlia was the one who gave the final push, the fatal one that knocked him into the live wire and caused him to be electrocuted. It's so tragic too, because Doug was only trying to warn Phoenix about Dahlia and her evilness.

heartbroken

Phoenix, so blinded by love, swallowed the necklace that was evidence in an attempt to protect his darling girlfriend. Mia was absolutely shocked that he would still consider this person his girlfriend! She tried to kill him and frame him! It wasn't until Mia managed to corner Dahlia on the witness stand that Phoenix was announced not guilty and let go. Thanks to Mia, Phoenix was able to take off his rose-colored glasses and see the truth.

Phoenix had a broken heart, and may have lost his love, but he gained a newfound determination in becoming a lawyer. Even though Phoenix was being impossible and childish during the trial, Mia still did her best to defend him. Phoenix, in retrospect, realized how uncooperatve he was the entire time and was amazed that Mia had the patience to continue defending him until the end. When Mia found out that Phoenix was studying to become a lawyer already (which kind of surprised her, considering his behaviour in court ...) Mia wished him the best and told him they will probably meet again. Phoenix believed in her words and worked even harder to become a defense attorney. Before, he had a reason to go into law, because of Miles Edgeworth. Now he had motivation, to become a great defense attorney like Mia Fey.