This section is devoted to contradictions that arise in the series the writers probably did NOT intend for.  Listed first are general AA world contradictions, followed by ones arranged by game and case.  I even threw in a few that come up a lot that are actually explainable. 

This list does NOT include:

Typos or grammatical errors.

Sprite errors
(things like Dee breaking her pipe, and it being back in her hand in the courtroom view)

Gags and gimmicks
(Adrian's endlessly reappearing glasses, bourbon glass in Detention, etc)

Ways in which PW world law differs from real world law
The game is not meant to be an accurate law sim, and it functions by its own set of rules.  As long as those laws are consistent to each other, they're not contradictions.

This list contains SPOILERS

 

The contradictions section is NOT accepting new submissions at this time.

General Contradictions

Burden of Proof vs Motive

In several cases, Phoenix can get to the end of the trial and disprove nearly all the evidence presented against his client, but can still lose the trial if he can't provide a motive for whichever "true killer" he implicates.  The prosecution doesn't usually bother to prove a motive.  (-Ryu-kun)

Purjury?  What Purjury?
No one in the AA world is ever charged for perjury. 
It's mentioned a few times, but no one ever seems to be actually punished for lying in court.

Magatama Phails

There are several cases where someone lies, Phoenix breaks their Psyche Locks, and then the person lies again, this time without any locks showing up.  Two of the more obvious cases of this are in JFA-2 and T&T-2.  Some lies are never picked up at all.  Also, the magatama is useless in court.

Backwards Technology

AA takes place in the future, and yet this isn't reflected in the technology present in the game, save for in a few very advanced instances.

Missing Case 5

Due to the order in which the games were written and released, nothing from PW case 5 is mentioned in JFA or T&T.  In JFA, several remarks are made that Edgeworth's last appearance in court was during his own time as defendant, which the canon timeline no longer says is the case.

Phoenix and Larry, Best Friends For Life

A couple different times, Phoenix or Larry refer to having known each other for "23 years" or "25 years", which in both cases is as old as Larry is.  Since they didn't meet until 4th grade or so, this is impossible.

[Explanation]:  This isn't really a contradiction: it's just another way of saying "I've known him my whole life."  It's a lot easier than counting the years.

Turnabout Sisters

What new Century?
 
After Maya comes to visit, Phoenix states that it's the turn of a new century, however, in 'Turnabout Goodbyes' we hear that the DL-6 incident occurred in the year 2001, meaning that it's 2016 when Turnabout Sisters occurred. (-diamondorca)

Chief Prosecutor

Redd calls "the Chief Prosecutor" at the end of the second investigation phase to get Phoenix charged with murder, and refers to him as a man.  However, Lana Skye should have been Chief Prosecutor at the time. 

[Explanation]:  This is actually a mistranslation - the Japanese judicial system is different than the American one so I'm not sure which position is comparable to an American position, but they were clearly two different people in the Japanese version.  (It may be that Redd called the District Attorney).

Phoenix On the Stand

Phoenix says in Case 2 that he never imagined he'd be in the defendant's chair. But by then he would have already been on trial for murder, detailed in T&T case 1.  (-Galve)

For that matter, Phoenix and Grossberg don't recognize each other, either. (-Ahmar).

[Explanation]: GS1 simply wasn't written with the assumption there would be a sequel, let alone a third game.

Turnabout Samurai

Steel Samurai Spear

Everyone says that Will Powers is the Steel Samurai, and the Steel Samurai is the murderer. They also say that the Samurai Spear was the murder weapon. You later use, "It was broken, and not strong enough to kill someone in a thick costume" as a way to prove Dee did it. Yet, even though you learn that in the first trial, you cannot use that to prove Will's innocence.  (-eliasbloodmoon)

[Explanation]: When Hammer's body was found, he had been changed into his Evil Magistrate outfit, which incidentally had a bare chest. Only on the second day did you learn that Hammer was wearing the Steel Samurai uniform. (-Obitwo)

Impossible Picture

Cody mentioned that he came through the forest on the day of the murder, and ended up coming out of the woods by Studio 2 where he witnessed Hammer being killed. However, if that holds true, then he would have never passed the security camera's line of sight by the gate. He would have already been far from it.

In order for his picture to have possibly been taken at all, he would have had to cross the gate and then come back, which would have made two pictures, bumping Hammer's picture down to #3. (-Flowery)

Turnabout Goodbyes

Forgetful Maya

If you talk to Maya about 'What to do' She'll mention how Edgeworth won't tell you anything. Later on you go to Grossberg's office and receive the Misty Fey Photo which you then show to Edgeworth. When you show it to Edgeworth, he tells you about the DL-6 Incident, But then, if you go back to the office, Maya still says that Edgeworth won't tell you anything.  (-Reuben.)

Lotta's Selective Hearing

Larry says he heard a single gunshot. Lotta’s picture proves it.... But, why didn’t Lotta hear it? Her camera was only attuned to pick up very loud noises, and it caught the first shot, even though it was fired inside the boat house.  Shouldn't Lotta have heard it too? (-Ronoc303)

School'd?

In his retelling of his history with Larry and Edgeworth, Phoenix explains he became friends with Edgeworth in the spring, and they remained together in the same class until Edgeworth was transferred out in December after the DL-6 Incident.  In an American school system, this would cover two school years.  But most Japanese school systems start the school year in the spring, and so they would have been in the same class the entire time.  It's not a mistake in the timeline, but rather a mistake in localization.

No One Likes Karma
Edgeworth demands to be prosecuted for the accidental shooting of his father, but the judge doesn't see a need to look into the matter of his accidentally shooting Von Karma. (-Jassami)

Rise From the Ashes

Differing Levels of Security

The security room shown in case 5 requires an ID card and code, and has fingerprint identification in place, all for cases that have already been solved.  The evidence room at Criminal Affairs has virtually no security.  (-Mikker)

The Incredible Size-Changing Knife

Once you get a hold of the switchblade knife, Phoenix remarks that the blade of it is 12 cm. Edgeworth's knife is 10 cm long, not to mention a different width. Not only would Goodman's stab wound run deeper than Worthy's knife allows, but the wound tract would be a different shape. Therefore, Edgeworth's knife couldn't have registered the lethal blow.  (-Anders)

Evidence Law

In Case 5 Phoenix is forced to adhere to "evidence law" which means he can't present evidence in court unless it has been documented and acknowledged by the police.  This only applies in Case 5, and the supposed rule is completely ignored in every other case in the series.

The second part of Evidence Law says that evidence introduced has to be proven relevant to the case at hand but at the same time, in every other case Phoenix is always given a chance to prove the item's relevance as soon as he presents it, so it's almost an unnecessary law. (-Casey)

Lingering Bloodstains

Some blood from the SL-9 case can still be detected, but there is no blood on the suit of armor that served as the real murder weapon. ( -Several)

[Possible Explanation]: Gant was more careful about cleaning that off than other pieces of evidence, as he obviously intended to keep it in his office for some time.

The Indestructible Jar

Ema claims she saw the Blue Badger fly through the room.  This is later revealed to be the strange jar in Gant's office, flying through the air because someone had knocked into it.  Had the jar indeed flown through the air like that, it surely would have shattered on impact with the ground.  Instead, it was mysteriously in one piece, as Gant was able to write Ema's name onto the jar, and then proceed to break it himself. (-Zack)

[Explanation]:  That is simply one tough jar!

The Lost Turnabout

Very Strong Nervous System

The police speculate that Dustin broke his neck when he fell from the cliff, and as he died wrote out Maggey's name in the sand.  Wrong spelling aside, if Dustin broke his neck he should have been paralyzed, unable to use his arms at all let alone write something.  The theory that he could have written it at all should never have come about. (-Sarahrose)

[Explanation]: The police are dumb.

Reunion, and Turnabout

Ghosts Not Accountable?

Franziska admits to the theory that Maya channeled a spirit, who took control of Maya's body and killed Dr. Grey.  But somehow, that means Maya is still responsible for the murder.

Some have theorized that as a spirit medium Maya would have some kind of control over the spirit, and should have been able to prevent the ghost from committing a crime.  This theory is called into question, however, by events in T&T.

[Explanation]: The prosecution just couldn't let the murder go by without finding someone responsible. (-CP Schwartz)

What's up with Grey?

Not really a contradiction, but it's never clarified in the case whether or not Grey really did slip Mimi sleeping pills and caused her accident, or why he brought a gun to a spirit channeling.

I've gotten several remarks on this one: the general fan consensus seems to be that Grey did not drug Mimi, and the gun was possibly for self defense against what might have been a vicious ghost.

Magical Fingerprints

Maya's fingerprints are the only ones on the knife and gun used to kill Dr. Grey, despite both having been used by Mimi (and Grey, in the case of the gun). 

[Explanation]:  This seems contradictory, but Morgan and Mimi were alone in the channeling room with Grey's body AND the unconscious Maya for several minutes while Phoenix and Lotta called the police.  They could have wiped down the weapons and curled Maya's hand around them to create the prints.

Turnabout Big Top

Not enough pepper, apparently

There's much ado about Regina and Bat playing pranks on each other with pepper, making each other sneeze. So Regina covers Bat's scarf with "as much pepper as she could" (according to Phoenix), gave it to him, and then evidently forgot about it and dared Bat to do the head-in-lion thing.

So. The scarf had enough pepper to make Leon sneeze, causing the tragedy.

How did Bat not even notice that much pepper? Wasn't the entire point of all the pepper on that scarf to put one over Bat? I'd imagine that when Bat put on the scarf, he should have sneezed like nothing else, and discarded the scarf immediately. The fact that he was still wearing the scarf when he got bitten, and there were still traces of pepper several months later when presented in court, means that Bat must have had a legendarily stuffed nose on that day or something. (-dkellis)

[Explanation]:  It might have only been a small amount of pepper, which stayed in the fabric for a long time (since it wasn't washed.  Also, lions have a much better sense of smell than humans.  Maybe it was enough pepper for the lion to be bothered, but not Bat. (-Gerkuman)

Phoenix's Win Record

In the ringmaster's room, some poking around will prompt a line of Maya's that suggests Phoenix may have lost cases between PW:AA and JFA.  Later in the game, however, it talks about his perfect win-record.  General fan consensus is that Maya's comment was poorly worded or just wrong.  (-urutapu)

The Amazing Flying Max

After Moe's last testimony when you're talking to Max in the Court Lobby afterward he reveals how he flies. However in the chapter directly after (3, Investigation) if you go to the Detention Centre and ask about 'Night of the Murder' Maya asks if Max could teach her 'the trick behind flying'. Max claims he 'keeps his mouth shut' when he blatantly told Phoenix and Maya how it was done earlier. (-Shal)

Teleporting Trilo

The night of the murder, Max claims he went directly from the rehearsal to the Ringmaster's office, and did not leave until the police arrived.  However, he also claims to have hidden Trilo in that very office, sometime after Russel left (since Ben had Trilo when they saw Russel outside).  So how did Max get Trilo if he never left the office? (-Several)

Farewell, My Turnabout

Pink Princess Award?

In Turnabout Samurai, it is announced WP will be the ‘Pink Princess’. But in 2-4, when Matt Engarde wins, it is said that Juan Corrida lost for the second time, losing last year to the ‘Pink Princess’. But, it is also stated that WP didn’t get one... (-Ronoc303)

Camera Conundrum

Lotta says she was outside the room on the night of the murder, which is proved by the fact a photograph was taken of Adrian in the costume... HOWEVER... Wendy Oldbag was also there after "stealing" the camera that day, because she found a note about the little affair Adrian was having with the murder victim.

Now... how could the camera have been stolen the day of the crime, when Lotta was there WITH it to take a photograph? And Wendy MUST have taken it to have gotten that note. Yet, the day after the crime, Lotta is whining that she had her camera stolen. (-Reno-chan)

Adrian's Magical Fingerprints

Adrian Andrews stabbed Juan Corrida with Matt Engarde's knife, and only Matt's fingerprints were found on it; this is just impossible: Phoenix demonstrates in court that Adrian wasn't wearing gloves that night, so there should be HER fingerprints too. But there aren't, while there are on the glass (she takes it a second before stabbing Corrida, so this is just weird). (-Bjk)

To clarify, I don't believe that "Adrian was careful handling the knife" is a suitable explanation for this one.  It would have to be almost impossible to stab a dinner knife into a body without gripping the handle.  If she did this bare handed, there would be prints.  If she wore gloves, she would have wiped off Matt's prints in the process (as Phoenix himself says earlier in the case).

Security Guard Asleep on Job?

When Matt makes his confession toward the end of the case, the detention center guard is present, and he's being monitored by security camera, but that doesn't seem to deter him, nor is it admitted in court.

[Explanation]:  Sometimes the guard actually IS asleep.  Also, anything Matt says to his attorney could be considered privileged, and wouldn't be admissible in court as testimony. (-Several)

On a related note, the detention center camera does indeed record sound, as stated in T&T.

The Stolen Turnabout

Unhelpful Box

After Phoenix wins the first case, and you investigate the Crime Scene, If you investigate Maya's box, you will get a caption saying: "DON'T TOUCH THAT! There may be clues to the thief's identity." Yet at that point, Luke has already confessed to being Mask DeMasque. (-Brett)

A Little Too Cautious

If you try to present the Mask*DeMaskque calling card to Desirée DeLite you will be stopped because "That emblum is top secret." However the emblem is in plain site on the hot-air balloon hanging in the room so Desirée should know about it already. (-Koolkevk)

Liar Luke

Just before the first day of trial, Atmey tells Phoenix that Edgeworth himself called Godot one of the best prosecutors alive.  Not only has Godot not tried a single case as a prosecutor before this case, but when asked about it later, Edgeworth says he's never even heard of Godot. (-several)

[Explanation]: Luke is just a liar who was trying to psyche Phoenix out before court.

Dual Card Keys?

When Ron gets to the CEO's office he lets himself in using his old key card, but Atmey is already inside, having just killed Bullard himself.  But how did Atmey get into the office without a key? (-InnocentGuilt).

[Explanation]:  Bullard was expecting him, so he might have just let him in.  And then let his guard down, silly man.

Recipe for Turnabout

Dull-Witted Tigre

Don Tigre is ultimately caught on the assertion that he couldn't have known what the cyanide bottle looked like unless he had been the one to use it. But at that point in the trial, it had already been established that he was the "defense lawyer" in the previous trial, so he would have had easy access to that information... (-LuigiHann)

[Explanation]: Tigre (and Godot, for that matter) were simply too slow to pick up on that.  Also, admitting to having defended Maggey would make it more obvious that Tigre was the killer.


I think he probably could have gotten away with just saying he was in the gallery during the previous trial, which would explain how he knew about the evidence and also why the Judge recognized him, but... either way Tigre isn't that smart anyway.

Turnabout Beginnings

Police Defying Necklace

In 3-4, Dahlia's necklace is confirmed as having contained poison, as it was what Terry Fawles used to kill himself.  In PW world that evidence should have been logged and put into storage, like every other solved and unsolved crime.  So how is that Dahlia still had the necklace six months later when she used it against Diego? (-Fireblast)

[Explanation]:  Dahlia simply had more than one. (-Koolkevk)

Bridge to the Turnabout

Kurain Channeling Blunders

In 2-2 it's said that an experienced Medium would be able to control the spirit IIRC, and since Misty is the master of Kurain I'd say she's pretty experienced, so why didn't she just kind of... prevent Dahlia from doing anything? The only explanation I can think of is that she's gotten rusty in her near-on 20 year absence... or that before she had a chance to do anything she was killed (but then why did she let her get that far?). (-rtsmarty)

[Explanation]:  Mia also explains in 2-2 that during a summoning, the medium ceases to exist at all, with no knowledge of what's happening, so it shouldn't be possible for a medium to control a summoned spirit at all. (-Bibbles)

Edgeworth's Super Influence

Edgeworth arranges for a new judge and prosecutor for Iris' case so that no one will know that he's a prosecutor.  But it only could have been his influence AS a prosecutor that allowed him to pull so many strings in the first place.  And then, immediately after acting as a defense attorney, he is allowed back into the investigation on the side of the cops, and is even allowed to escort his own client about unquestioned.

Though this may not be much of a contradiction considering how easily the PW law enforcement has been fooled in the past (*cough*cardboardbadge*cough*)

Also, it's never said exactly *when* Edgeworth was able to accomplish all this string-pulling.  The player takes control of Edgeworth at the Detention Center.  He couldn't have made his arrangements beforehand, because at that point he hadn't even agreed to take Iris' case.  And when he gets to Hazakura Temple, he hasn't even heard of Godot.  But later in that same day of investigation, he's able to take advantage of Godot's being missing to slip in his own prosecutor.  So at some point during the investigation phase at Hazakura, Edgeworth had to have ditched us, the audience, to complete his set-up. (-Mikker)

Mia's Magical Knowledge

In 3-5, after Maya has been attacked, Mia tells Maya to summon Dahlia so that she can't be attacked again.  Of course, that only worked because Dahlia was already dead.  How did Mia know that Dahlia had been executed?  Not even Phoenix knew, and being alive, he even has access to the news!

More importantly, in court Maya was not able to describe her attacker, as it was too dark for her to see.  How then was she able to describe her attacker to Mia in enough detail that Mia deduced it could only have been Dahlia, in the body of someone else?

[Explanation]:  A few people have suggested that Mia is simply able to "sense" other ghosts in the afterlife, and was therefore able to tell that Dahlia had died, and was recently summoned.  It would explain the contradiction, but I can't think of any piece of canon that supports this theory, or any reason why Mia wouldn't simply say that this was the case.

Some have also suggested to me that Mia knew of the execution date before hand, and even in the afterlife is conscious enough of the passage of time to know that Dahlia would have been executed by the time 3-5 takes place.  But 2-4 proved that Mia isn't simply able to "spy" on the living world, so again, I'm not sure canon supports this answer either, other than to say that Mia must have "assumed" Dahlia was dead by now. 

Maya, Not So Quick

After Godot kills Elise, he takes Maya back to the Inner Temple and does his best to clean up the crime scene, but fails to notice what any normal person would: the word "Maya" written in blood on the lantern. Later on, Maya herself wakes up, and she heads over to said crime scene, knowing most of the circumstances of the murder. The contradiction, then, is - why doesn't Maya wash her name off the lantern? It certainly stands out, and she's seen what happens when her name is found written in the victim's blood at the crime scene (1-2), so, even not knowing the details of Godot's plan, it seems like her impulse would be to remove evidence that incriminates her from the scene of the crime...  By then she admits herself that the lanterns were lit, as she could see the snow cleared away.  So why didn't she see her own name in blood?  (-Trevor)

Teleported Weapon

Elise was stabbed with her own staff at the Inner Temple, and when her body was transported the blade was still inside her.  Iris then pulled the staff out (while Bikini watched) and left it in the courtyard along with the body.  But the reason no one suspected the staff as the murder weapon is that it was discovered in its sheath - no one suspected it was really a weapon.  But how did the sheath get back to the courtyard?

Dahlia didn't know about the sword hiding inside the sheath.  It wasn't until she reached the Inner Temple that Godot discovered and unsheathed it.  So if the sheath was taken off there, and it wasn't rammed in Elise's body like the sword itself, how did it reappear back in place when Elise's body was discovered? (-Aijiru)

[Explanation]: Godot could have shoved it in her robe, even though it's not visible in the infamous "pendulum corpse" animation. (-Several)

If you have a contradiction / explanation to contribute, send it to webmaster Croik at courtrecord @ gmail dot com.