Yes, that was my original thought. "Luke can't die because he's mentally unsound and should be treated rather than executed for the things he does while suffering from an undiagnosed illness." Then I remembered that they probably don't have mental hospitals in the PW universe...

But anyway, whether he gets released or not, I don't think he should be executed. You shouldn't execute an insane person like that. He needs to be treated, or fake his treatment, or whatever.

I imagine they still do have those, Sh1n1. I mean, just `cus Engarde wasn't in a padded room doesn't mean he couldn't be in one.

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:05:14 PM): I finally up and beat 3-2, so it's a clear shot to the end now.

Seitsukire (8:06:44 PM): Huzzah!

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:07:44 PM): I feel like an idiot.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:07:55 PM): I cried during the whole last part. >_>

Seitsukire (8:09:06 PM): Eh, at least the case is over with.

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:09:51 PM): It was all... "STOP YELLING THOSE TERRIBLE THINGS AT HIM, GODOT WHERE DO YOU GET OFF CALLING ANYONE A PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A MAN"
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:21:28 PM): And it was just a relentless ordeal and I felt like an idiot when it was over.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:21:31 PM): And all day today.

Seitsukire (8:23:18 PM): That doesn't sound too good. And kind of contradictory, I mean how does it work when you cry over a "relentless ordeal" and then feel like an idiot about it?

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:23:40 PM): Well, it was a relentless ordeal to me, but to others it's just a game.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:23:56 PM): A lawyer game in which I did the part and caught the real villain.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:23:59 PM): So I won.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:24:05 PM): So why should it upset me.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:24:13 PM): That's what I mean, pardon my lack of clarity.

Seitsukire (8:26:01 PM): ...Buuut why didit upset you?

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:26:22 PM): Because I have somehow managed to convince myself that he didn't do it.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:27:11 PM): There was no reason why another person couldn't have been there, really. He was there, he had motive. I proved this. He never even confessed, or anything. They just broke him and said "Okay, that's good enough."
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:27:27 PM): No weapon, no evidence.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:27:43 PM): And man, I just felt so bad for him!

Seitsukire (8:34:17 PM): First thing is, Atmey is guilty. I hardly remember the details of the case, but he's definately not a man to be easily broken down. If the truth be told, and he was actually innocent, then he wouldn't have been pronounced guilty. In effect, Godot used to be a defense attorney and now that he is a prosecutor, he is in such that he acts like Atmey's defense attorney. I doubt Godot, if he could, wouldn't come up with a reason to let Atmey off.

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:37:25 PM): Um, I don't trust Godot to do anything for anyone besides himself, even if he was a defense attorney at one point in his life. But whatever. And yes, I know about the whole 3-5 "blah blah i save maya plz to be knowing this but i die anyway this is tears not blood" thing. I just don't buy it. He's been broken, yes, but breaking him made him (pardon the diction) bitter and resentful. Not even Mia acknowledges him with any respect at this point.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:37:33 PM): But that's mostly irrelevant.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:40:00 PM): The point is, yes, he is guilty. I am well aware of this. I just don't believe it. A person cannot be judged on how breakable they are solely on how the present themselves to everyone. In the PW world, at least, each person has that one thing that really gets to them when pushed enough.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:40:19 PM): *wall of purple text*
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:42:40 PM): And anyway, whether he did it or not, I don't think it's right to convict someone without even bringing up a weapon. Didn't we just establish the necessity of one in, oh, I don't know, the case right before this? It wouldn't have any finger prints on it, but the lack of one just makes me think it isn't quite right. The same goes for whoever would be on trial for that murder, though.

Seitsukire (8:48:22 PM): Unless all lies were exposed and the truth came out, I highly, highly doubt Luke would break. My opinion of him is not very high, but I do acknowledge him to be a capable person. And to get that Double Jeapardy ruling, he even faked a confession once. And my memory of the case isn't detailed enough to make a logical argument on the facts of the matter, however my point stands outside the realm of what is in-universe. As in, canon is simply what is in the game. Everything outside of which is only speculation. You could poke holes in it, but the truth lies in what Capcom says is the truth since...well, they made the game. Or what is it Capcom? Something or another, that's irrelevant anyways.
Seitsukire (8:51:45 PM): And I just thought of something. If Atmey were innocent...why would he lie?

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:51:50 PM): It is Capcom, and I do acknowledge the truth they've presented. However, that does not make it right in my mind as they contradicted a very important piece of a previous case in writing it. In fact, that contradiction wouldn't hit me quite as strongly if it hadn't been the previous case in which the need for a weapon was so desperately established. Yes, he faked a confession but there are a number of reasons that... well, I won't get into that because it's baseless speculation. But anyway, I agree that he is a very capable man. However, even the most capable people can crumble when prodded the right way.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:51:53 PM): What do you mean?

Seitsukire (8:52:16 PM): He lied. On the stand. As in, commited perjury to a crime he didn't commit, in that case.
Seitsukire (8:52:26 PM): Wait, rewording that....
Seitsukire (8:52:39 PM): He lied for no reason.

Sh1n1d4m1 (8:52:44 PM): About what?
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:52:53 PM): I mean, to which crime?
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:52:57 PM): The murder?
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:53:37 PM): I assume you mean the murder, because I maintain that he was definitely the blackmailer.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:53:55 PM): Anyway, firstly, he never outright confessed to the murder.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:54:05 PM): Just sort of broke down and stopped trying.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:55:03 PM): His breakdown mimicked his other 'confession,' of course, but with one major difference. That being that when he confessed to being Mask*DeMasque, he went ahead and said that he was Mask*DeMasque, simply put.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:56:31 PM): When confessing to the murder, he repeated that he was Mask*DeMasque, and then... that was it. He fell into the maniacal laughter and they took him away before he ever admitted to killing Bullard. It was proven that he was there, but it was never completely established that he murdered him while he was there.
Sh1n1d4m1 (8:57:55 PM): And while something so small may seem completely irrelevant, isn't it these small altercations that provide the entire basis for proving someone's innocence or guilt in the Ace Attorney world?

Seitsukire (9:04:07 PM): Then let me make a small nitpick here....you say that Atmey never confessed. But how would you know if he did or not? As I recall, didn't the screen fade into darkness after his "confession"? In that time before the screen came up, there was that time to take Atmey away so it could've been then that the guilt was officially established. At this point, you probably ask why they would leave this out then. First of all, PW is also an art of sorts. The way they played the scene out left a very poetic feeling. I guess that's my only excuse for bringing up such an idea. But, I could believe in such just as easily as you could believe in his innocence.

Sh1n1d4m1 (9:04:32 PM): This is true. Very true.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:05:17 PM): Though I find it a bit odd that you would be so sketchy on details with the exception of artistic twists...
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:05:28 PM): ...I only tease. I'm trying to be dramatic here.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:08:06 PM): Well, it seems we're both tackling this thing by the delicates now! So let us. I concede, it is perfectly likely that Atmey could confess his guilt during this little interlude. However, to draw back to an earlier point... Namely, the original trial, for the Mask*DeMasque thefts (a complete and utter err on the part of the Prosecutor. What a way to handle a trial, basing the entire case around a single instance rather than bringing up all the others. But that does not pertain to Sir Atmey.).
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:11:44 PM): As Atmey was led away after his confession to the thefts, the player was left with a happy little segment placed in for dramatic effect. When the Prosecutor crashes the party, so to speak, he mentions that Atmey is "being taken in by the police, still laughing like a madman." It's a trivial detail, really, but I intend to draw attention to the fact that well after saying what he had to say he continued to laugh and laugh, as he seems to enjoy doing.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:14:23 PM): As I said, it's mainly trivial, but the last thing said by Atmey before he began the laughing fits at the end of the murder trial was, as I've told you, "Unable to find a rival worthy of my genius, I was forced to create one myself!" and the like. His Mask*DeMasque confession. If anything is to be said for patterns, I would say it isn't hard to assume that he would still be having his fits for a good while after the black screen, cutting out the time for confession that you've allotted him.

Seitsukire (9:22:36 PM): But the time I have allotted him is fact. There was an interlude. However, who's to say what actually happened? The argument has become trivial. And I've kind of strayed from my original point XD. What I was trying to say was, Atmey is canonically guilty. Convincing yourself otherwise is just silly. I mean, you convinced yourself otherwise as to give more credit to Atmey, right? That's sort of skewering the facts, as presented by the game itself. Even if the game does contradict itself.

Sh1n1d4m1 (9:23:35 PM): I should be more clear. It's silly to convince myself of something so obviously... not true. But anyway, I shouldn't say that I've convinced myself he's innocent. Rather, I can't convince myself he's guilty.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:24:12 PM): Because of the contradictions, the lack of evidence, the fact that the entire case seems to open and vague that Capcom doesn't seem as though they put enough thought into finishing it.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:26:19 PM): I wouldn't care if he was guilty or innocent; I'd credit him the same either way. I just can't wholly accept that verdict they inevitably gave him on such... The same for Tigre, in a way. He gave himself up far too easily. If he had just admitted to being the fake Phoenix, he could have dragged out the trial to at least another testimony or two. Not entirely relating to 3-2, but that's what I mean by the lack of planning.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:31:29 PM): Because as the fake Phoenix, he would have seen the bottle ahead of time. That is how you catch him, right?

Seitsukire (9:32:16 PM): If you put it that way, my argument becomes moot. But even so, going back to the original point, why feel sorry for him to the point of crying? I can understand (only a little because I dislike him) feeling sorry a little bit because he might not have murdered anyone. Just might. But he still blackmailed someone in search for attention and robbed artifacts that he returned in his name, essentially becoming a lying celebrity and robber. To put in bluntly, he was not exactly a good person.
Seitsukire (9:33:36 PM): Attempting to be objective, the only good points I can see are his odd personality (in some cases) and his intelligence. Both of which do not reflect upon what he actually did.

Sh1n1d4m1 (9:34:34 PM): Well, I've just agreed to post this on Court Records after we close, so at the risk of making myself look even more like a loser than I already have, I say that I cried most likely because of what he did to reach the ends. Because he "blackmailed someone in search for attention and robbed artifacts that he returned in his name." Which may not seem like a good reason to cry over someone.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:35:17 PM): But think about what must have gone on in his head to cause him to need attention that badly? That's not exactly a safe course or action, or a normal one, or even a logical one at all.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:36:12 PM): It seems... well, pretty pathetic. That's why, I think. It's a sort of identity thing. I identify with the wanting to be in the spotlight, I just haven't been pushed to the point of doing anything drastic to be put into the spotlight, in that manner.

Seitsukire (9:37:50 PM): (Once you wrap up this wall of text, what exactly are you posting on CR?)

Sh1n1d4m1 (9:38:27 PM): Attempting to be objective as well. His bad points are very clear. He blackmailed a confused young man just for his own personal gain and might have even murdered a man in order to preserve his fame. On top of that, he's extremely smug, even when looking like a fool, and he has no qualms about lying incessantly and badmouthing anyone he deems below him.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:38:36 PM): (Pretty much this entire thing.)

Seitsukire (9:42:50 PM): When it comes to the human mind, some things don't have to be "logical" or some such. Atmey just had an unsatiable desire for attention. It's not really a good or bad thing, just fact. However, it's what he did to satisfy that that turned him into what he is. In those terms, it's hard to feel sorry for him.

Sh1n1d4m1 (9:44:15 PM): Perhaps, perhaps. But I tend to think... and that's what makes this a moot point... that one would have to endure an awful lot to gain such a desire. And if he was born with it, it's rather unhealthy and he obviously never received any sort of help for such an unhealthy mindset, so even then I feel sorry for him.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:44:38 PM): In that aspect, he cannot be entirely held responsible, even if he did murder Bullard.

Seitsukire (9:46:35 PM): Before I forget, I'm just saying all this because I don't think it seems logical to cry in a situation like this. But, if you absolutely must, then you must. And feeling like an idiot over something like that isn't going to help at all, so chin up! You know, looking towards the future instead of at the past, can't change how you feel, it's already happened, and all that cliche' stuff we all know and love.

Sh1n1d4m1 (9:47:19 PM): Oh I know, I know. This is your way of helping me cope with my own... weirdness, and I love it. I don't get much of a chance to debate things like this.
Sh1n1d4m1 (9:47:42 PM): But well, I couldn't stop myself. *shrug* So anyway...

Seitsukire (9:50:21 PM): Hehe, weeell, I'm all out of things to debate now. If you feel sorry for him through such a course of thinking, then nothing can really change that. And I can't exactly prove otherwise that Atmey is just some kind of spawn of Satan.

Luke was my favorite murderer, his plot was so epic, he had everything planned out! But, his mistake IMO was telling Phoenix to get the blackmail letter from Ron's room. But besides that, it was a perfect crime.