In her first trial, rookie attorney Mia Fey and her partner Diego Armando defend death row inmate Terry Fawles, who is under suspicion of murdering policewoman Valerie Hawthorne during an escape attempt. Facing off against Miles Edgeworth, also on his first case as a prosecutor, Mia's persistence pays off when she learns the truth: years earlier, Terry, Valerie, and her younger sister Dahlia staged a kidnapping to steal a priceless jewel from the girls' father. Dahlia then betrayed Terry by faking her death, leaving Terry to be convicted of murder based on Valerie's testimony. Terry had escaped in the hopes of learning the truth from Valerie, but unbeknownst to him, Dahlia had already killed her and planted the body in his car. Before a judgement can be passed, Terry commits suicide by consuming poison received from Dahlia years earlier, forcing a mistrial and freeing Dahlia. She subsequently poisons Armando after learning he was investigating her further, leaving him comatose, and begins posing as university student Phoenix Wright's girlfriend to hide the evidence. Months later, Phoenix is charged with the murder of his classmate Doug Swallow. Mia, acting as his lawyer, exposes Dahlia as Swallow's killer and Armando's assailant, who was planning to kill Phoenix as well. For her efforts, Dahlia is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death. Phoenix, who was already planning on changing majors to study law, asks Mia to be his mentor.