Only two months after case 3-5, Phoenix was called to detention one
night by Zak Gramarye, a famous magician at the time. Zak challenged him
to a game of poker, which Phoenix won. Zak then asked Phoenix to be his
lawyer, as he was suspected of having killed his master, Magnifi Gramarye.
He had just recently fired his previous lawyer, and the trial was the next
morning. Phoenix was reluctant but agreed.
The next day in court, Zak's daughter Trucy handed Phoenix a piece of
paper that seemed to have been ripped out of a journal. He took it into
court with him, where he faced a young Klavier Gavin. Though Phoenix was
able to show that Zak's stage partner Valant had opportunity and motive,
it wasn't enough. In the end he presented the page that Trucy had given
him, as it turned out to be a page from Magnifi's journal. But as soon as
he did, Klavier pounced, and declared that the evidence was fraudulent. He
even had a witness specially prepared to testify that it was a fake. When
it turned out to be true, Phoenix was penalized severely for having
presented fake evidence, and lost the case.
When Zak took the stand to receive his sentence, he disappeared into thin
air, and no verdict was ever given.
Phoenix was then put before a hearing conducted by the other lawyers in
his field. It was determined that he was responsible for the forgery and
he was disbarred for it. Of the other defense attorneys only Kristoph
Gavin stood up in Phoenix's defense.
In the aftermath, Phoenix took in Zak's abandoned daughter Trucy, and
raised her as his own. He also made friends with fellow defense attorney
Kristoph, and the two of them met often over the next several years.
Though Phoenix had a sneaking suspicion all along that Kristoph was
somehow related to the forged evidence, he had no proof. So he bided his
time, continuing his investigation, preparing for the day he would
eventually come to the truth.
It was through Kristoph that he met young Apollo Justice, the key to
fulfilling his plan.
