| Turnabout Discharge - Part 4 | |
|---|---|
 ~Transpositional~ | |
| Date added | May 18, 2024 |
| Duration | 1:14:54 |
| Transcript | Available |
| Part of | My Little Ace Attorney: Elements of Justice |
| ⇐ Turnabout Discharge - Part 3 |
⇒ Turnabout Discharge - Part 5 |
The episode begins with a flashback to Overall Concept's murder trial; prosecutor Trixie Lulamoon calls detective Private Eye to the stand as her first witness. He testifies that, on the night of the murder, Overall and the victim Estella Pantomimia were the only ones working at Bridleway Theater. Estella had taken a break and gone outside at 10:02pm, and Overall took a break at 10:15pm. During their break, Estella was attacked in the alley behind the theater, struck several times with an old walking stick, and died from blood loss. Private Eye also presents Estella's autopsy report indicating she died between 10:15 and 10:45pm. Overall's hoofprints were found on the murder weapon, and he himself was caught between the victim's body and the theater's back door.
In her cross-examination, Sonata receives a disturbance report in which someone reported hearing a scream at the theater at 10:12pm. She immediately raises an objection, pointing out that the scream was heard a full three minutes before Overall went on his break. However, a suddenly repentant Trixie says Sonata's copy of the disturbance report is an earlier, inaccurate draft and produces a corrected version with a timestamp of 10:21pm, once again placing suspicion on Overall.
Sonata chews Trixie out for making such an amateurish mistake, but Princess Celestia breaks up their arguing in order to get the trial back on track. With the prosecution's mix-up cleared up and the defense's cross-examination completed, Private Eye is dismissed from the witness stand. Sonata inwardly admonishes herself for getting so agitated and vows to keep a cooler head while defending her client going forward.
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The story then flashes forward to Rainbow Dash's trial in the present day, with Sonata and Phoenix as the defense, Princess Luna as prosecutor, and the judge presiding (the judge originally assigned to Rainbow's case was called away to preside over another trial). Luna, having been deeply affected by the outcome of the previous trial and still dealing with the fallout that came from it, has a much more serious demeanor than ever and promises to uncover the truth of this case no matter what.
Luna explains the case's details: Wonderbolts Reserves member Stream Line collapsed during a training session at the Wonderbolt Academy and taken to the hospital. Rainbow Dash is suspected of deliberately poisoning Stream Line, even though her tox screen came back negative for any known poisons. Detective Philo Reed is called as Luna's first witness, and he testifies that, due to Stream Line's symptoms at the time of her collapse, she is believed to have been poisoned with "Grickle Grass". In addition, Rainbow Dash was seen by several Wonderbolts swapping out the juice boxes in Stream Line's locker.
As Sonata conducts her cross-examination, Luna raises considerably aggressive objections at several points in order to remove any and all doubts about the case's facts. However, Sonata remains calm and collected, pressing only on certain statements and not raising any objections of her own yet, much to Luna's surprise. Her main point of contention is the allegation that Rainbow Dash poisoned Stream Line, even though no poisons were detected in her system or the juice boxes; the prosecution's only definitive proof is that Rainbow was seen going into Stream Line's locker on several occasions starting a week prior, when Stream Line first started exhibiting symptoms.
With the cross-examination having run its course, Philo Reed is dismissed from the witness stand, but before he leaves, he mentions to Sonata his appreciation for her shrewd and meticulous approach to cross-examining - knowing when to listen and when to object.
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Wonderbolts captain Spitfire is called to the stand as Luna's next witness. She testifies as well that Rainbow Dash was seen swapping out juice boxes in Stream Line's locker, and that, when Rainbow was being arrested, she resisted and caused a scene. In her cross-examination, Sonata wonders, if Rainbow had been swapping juice boxes into Stream Line's locker, what happened to the boxes she swapped out, for which Spitfire does not have a sure answer. Luna and Phoenix expect Sonata to raise an objection, but she does not.
With what appears to be a clear picture of the case's events established, Sonata asks what motive Rainbow Dash would have to poison another pony. Spitfire explains that Rainbow and Stream Line have gotten into arguments on multiple past occasions, and a few days before Stream Line collapsed, Rainbow accused her of cheating her way into the Wonderbolts Reserves. Sonata believes Rainbow's accusation toward Stream Line is why she was vague earlier regarding the reason she was arrested. Luna even goes one step further and suggests Rainbow Dash's hatred toward Stream Line was so intense, it drove her to attempt murder.
In an attempt to shift focus away from Rainbow Dash, Sonata returns to the subject of the Grickle Grass poison. Despite the poison being apparently simple to manufacture, Spitfire explains it could not have been made on Wonderbolt Academy grounds because there would be too many witnesses, and it could not be smuggled into the Academy from the outside because Academy personnel would have confiscated it. Unfortunately, Luna has another witness to disprove that claim. Spitfire is dismissed from the witness stand, and the judge orders a 15-minute recess for Luna's next witness to arrive.
Trivia[]
- The scene in which Trixie presents a more updated version of the disturbance report is a reference to an infamous, frequently memed moment in the Ace Attorney case Turnabout Sisters in which Phoenix presents an autopsy report in court and prosecutor Miles Edgeworth says, "That autopsy report is outdated".