Well, I don't get fancy artwork like LoG, but it's better than nothing...


Welcome to “Turnabout Forgery,” better known as case DB-22 of Court Records Forums’ trial RP’s. This topic is here to go over a quick summary of the case, discuss my policies for running the trial, and for posting signups for the various roles of the trial. There’s a lot of information to wade through before we get to the fun parts, so check your attention span and let’s get to it:

Court Procedure
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At its heart, I want this case to play out as similarly to a chapter of the games as I can. Well, of the court phase, anyway. I’ll get to the investigations bit later. As far as the courtroom drama goes, the tasks and conduct of each participant in the RP depends on which roles they take. Here’s the breakdown:

Defense Attorney and Aid: You two (or one, if nobody wants to be an aid) have the unenviable task of trying to make sense out of this murder case. While in court, you’ll be able to cross-examine witnesses, pressing statements for more information or presenting evidence that contradicts the testimony. This pretty much plays out exactly as it does in the games. Once you’re set in your role as defense, I will PM you the court record—that is, the evidence that the defense knows about and can use to object. Keep in mind that witnesses may present their own evidence if the situation calls for it, and the prosecution may choose to hold on to or not highlight evidence that doesn’t match their view of the case. Don’t assume that the court record you get on day one won’t change between then and the end of the trial.
As for the defense’s aid, keep this in mind: only the defense attorney officially assigned to the case may press or present evidence during cross-examination. As an unofficial aid, your primary task is to talk things through with the defense attorney, point out parts of the testimony that are suspicious, and suggest possible courses of action. For instance, the aid could say “hmm, that statement just now was a contradiction, right? Couldn’t you present the gun now?” and get the attorney to do so, but if the aid him/herself tries to present the gun and confront the witness, you may get penalized, or perhaps even held in contempt and forced to leave the courtroom for the remainder of that day.
Investigation Phase: Coming from the Phoenix Wright School for Illegal Searches, the defense attorney and his aid will continue to investigate the crime in between trial days. In between days I’ll PM the defense with the results of the day’s search. Whether it’s background information or new evidence uncovered, you’ll have your chance to talk over what you know about the case with me, and straighten out whatever questions come about as a result of that day’s proceedings.

Prosecution: I’ll be taking the role of prosecutor in this case. Basically I’ll ensure that the trial continues moving forward. I can object if the defense badgers the witness, asks irrelevant questions, or presents evidence that doesn’t directly contradict the witness’ testimony. Basically my job is to make sure that the judge and defense don’t screw around too much.

Judge: Again, assuming you’ve played Ace Attorney you should have a fairly good idea of what to expect out of this role. As judge, you must decide whether to sustain or overrule the various objections presented in court, make sure that the courtroom remains orderly, and you have the right to formally request that a witness add details of their testimony to the record (if the defense presses a statement that yields new information, for instance). Of course, you must also render your verdict at the end of the trial after considering all of the available information. To ensure that the trial lasts longer than ten minutes, though, try to keep the game judge’s “guilty until proven innocent” mentality in mind. If things proceed according to plan, the truth behind the murder should be unearthed by the defense, making your job in declaring the verdict pretty simple.

Detective: The detective could be considered somewhat of a mini-witness. During the beginning of the court proceedings, you’ll be asked to take the stand and explain the crime as the police office sees it. The defense will be allowed to cross-examine, mostly for the sake of pressing for more information. I’ll PM the detective with all pertinent evidence and information and, since I am the prosecutor, after all, we will discuss the case in detail to make sure all the crime details needed for this testimony are firmly understood.

Witnesses: All witnesses will, obviously, have testimony to present in court. Upon confirming your role as a witness, I will PM you with that character’s essential background information and their relation to this case. Unlike, for instance, LoG’s trial, where all of the witnesses already have defined personalities and traits, I’m largely leaving it up to the individual player how each witness looks and acts. Of course, there are a few pieces of information that I will be providing (after all, the murder needs a motive, and a couple of background bits are needed as case evidence), but beyond my initial PM containing the critical pieces of info, it’ll be up to you to develop your witness’ individual defining characteristics and quirks.
Testimony details: This trial is designed to take it to the full three-day limit, I’ll say that right off the bat. Rather than throwing out all of the information right at the beginning, the witnesses that participate in the trial will be given the details of their testimony prior to the beginning of that trial day. This way, I can make small changes if needed as the trial rolls on.
Now, on to actually testifying. You’ll be responsible for writing your testimony based on how you define the witness’ personality. However, at the beginning of the trial day I’ll PM you with important bits of each testimony, including parts to be vague about (so that the defense has opportunities to press), and which contradictions to include (including the evidence that contradicts each statement). Just make sure when you’re constructing your testimony to break it up into small bits that the defense can take individually. An example of this would be like…

“I was on my balcony…

I heard a scream coming from across the street, it sounded like a woman.

Then there was a single gunshot, POW!”

…and so on and so forth. Each testimony will tentatively include at least four “parts” to it (what I mean is, four separate testimonies that come about as a result of the defense pointing out contradictions, like when witnesses in the game are asked to testify about certain new details, or ask to restate something), so there will probably be a lot of information to hand out in these testimony briefings. Feel free to PM the prosecution (…me) if you have any questions about what the testimony should include, of if you are unsure of any case details that the defense asks you to clarify.

Defendant: Unfortunately…the defendant has kind of a minimal role in this trial. Basically, you sit in the defendant’s chair and watch the proceedings unfold. Depending on how the defense sorts through the information, you might be asked to testify, at which time I would PM the important details needed to speak out. Since this isn’t a very active role in the trial, I might take on the role of defendant myself if nobody else decides to play him.

Uhh…I think that covers everybody. Now that we’ve gotten the procedural stuff out of the way, on to the actual case!



Case Summary
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Overview: Victim Roy Bretta was found dead in his upscale suburban home. The day after the murder was reported to the police, investigative efforts led to the arrest of the defendant, Ross Heckler. The beginning of this trial marks the day after Heckler’s arrest.


Victim Data: Anthony Bretta, age 30. Employee of the local federal bank branch. Found dead on his living room sofa, with a single gunshot wound in his lower chest.

Suspect Data: Ross Heckler, age 31. Employed as an IT consultant for local businesses. Friend of the victim for several years.
Reason for Suspicion: A sole bullet found on the scene (discovered in the couch cushion the victim was found on), matches a pistol registered to Mr. Heckler. This pistol was found in Heckler’s house, with one shot missing from its clip. No prints were found on the gun, and the defendant claims that he hasn’t fired the gun in at least two weeks. Additional pieces of hard and circumstantial evidence (including two witness testimonies) place Heckler at the scene of the crime.

Witness Data: While no witnesses actually saw the exact moment of the killing, two witnesses have come forward with information regarding the case from day one:

Noah Remington: Age 26. A freelance director who has been shooting possible movie locations all around the city. Claims that on the night of the shooting, he was taking a walk through the neighborhood when he heard a gunshot. Upon checking the backyard of the victim’s house, he discovered the body.

Wesley Smith: Age 36. Works at a large telecommunications firm with a branch office in the city. Smith has been Bretta’s neighbor for just over two years. On the night of the shooting, Mr. Smith reports hearing an argument between the victim and the accused, followed by a gunshot. Upon checking the scene, he came across Mr. Remington and notified the police.

Allison Colt: Age 28. Works at a local wood-sculpting studio. Her role in this case remains unclear.


Case-role Signups
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Post in this topic to request an open role. If you’re choosing defense, judge, or detective, PM me when you can with a brief character description, which I’ll then post here. For the witnesses (and defendant), wait for my description of the critical background information before replying with character details. After all, it would help to know if you’re the murderer or not before building the character, don’t you think? :hodohobo:

Role is followed by status, character name, and (the name of the player).
(ALL ROLES ARE CURRENTLY FILLED)

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Prosecutor – CLOSED to Laurent Wyvern (Anders)

District Prosecutor Laurent Wyvern (27): Very much unlike most of his prosecuting peers (such as Edgeworth, the von Karmas, Mr. Tavern, and so on), Laurent Wyvern is almost disgustingly laid back. Usually seen in the courtroom in a pair of slacks and a wrinkly button-down shirt, one wonders if he even takes his job seriously. Despite outward demeanor, however, Wyvern's a sharp young man and a respected prosecutor. At least, when he's not caught napping in court...

Defense Attorney – CLOSED to Steven Wilder (Dr_Wilder)

Attorney Steven Wilder (25): It's been awhile since self-proclaimed "zen master" Steven Wilder's had a case, but he's emerged from the shadows to take on another nigh-impossible case. He considers it a miracle, and he almost turned it down, as he's still down in the dumps after his humiliating defeat. But can he win by sheer determination alone? Somewhat rash and compulsive, but this time he vows not to overlook anything.

Defense Aid – CLOSED to Jeff Krull (T3h_Waffleman)

Jeff Krull (17): Currently studying law, Jeff takes on internships as a defense aid to gain experience for his own career as an attorney. Jeff is extremely smart, and almost as eccentric. Most of the time, he is easy-going, cracking jokes at every opportunity, but can be single-minded and doggedly determined, especially in the courtroom. Jeff is also a self-proclaimed nerd, almost obsessed with anime and video games.
Misc.: Wears glasses; is left-handed

Judge - CLOSED to...the Judge (Wooser)

Detective - CLOSED to Leon Swift (eliasbloodmoon)

Defendant - Ross HecklerCLOSED (ichigo)

Witness 1 - Noah Remington CLOSED (DT183)(Anders temporarily filling in)

Witness 2 - Wesley Smith CLOSED (undeadrhapsody)

Witness 3 - Allison Colt CLOSED (Madfoot713)

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A quick double-post to explain what's going on here:

DB-22 is making the move to our lovely new forum. For now, I'm leaving all of the roles that were claimed intact, though I will request that all roles currently signed up for must post here within a week to ensure that they're still here and active. If someone with a role in the trial hasn't stepped up and confirmed their position by next week, I'll remove them and open the sign-ups for that character.

Noah Remington's role is still open as well. I know that a few people on the old forum posted saying they'd like the role, but I won't be using those in determining who takes over once I finish the current trial day. If you'd like to take the role of Remington for later in the trial, please post again and request it.

I'll restart the trial topic soon with a quick synopsis of what's been uncovered so far, and we'll continue from there. Got it? Got it.

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So that I don't lose my role, I'm just posting to show that I am still here.

And tingling for fun!

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I'm here, and probably still active.

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=D I never know what I'm doing

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Since its open, Ill take Witness 1, If I can

Damn you DT, beat me to it .

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I'm here! Huzzah!

Okay peeps.

It's come to my attention that this trial is moving about as quickly as a year on Pluto. It's been a little disenheartening, to say the least. The good news is that there really isn't much left to do on day one, so that part should at least conclude fairly quickly. Most of the reason we haven't moved on yet is because the judge hasn't posted lately, despite several reminders on my part...

*coughwoostercough*

...Ahem. Anyway, is anybody still interested in doing this? If I get a sufficient positive response from the current players, I'll see to it that it keeps going, even if it means de-judgifying my fellow admin. Otherwise, I'll put an end to this trial and open the forum up for people that ARE around and willing to post.

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I'm still interested.

*Sigh* I see im too late all the roles are filled

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Are there still any roles open? Particularly spot for an up-and-coming Defense Attorney?

Looking for a role as Prosecuting Attorney for me as well. Could settle for something less.