Background: Machi was born in a small country called Borginia, located in northern Europe, where he played piano at various restaurants to make a living, sleeping in alleys and doorways at night and generally ekeing out an existence as a homeless orphan in a tiny country as best he could. Eventually he met Lamiroir, a blind singer who he treated with great kindness; the two of them grew quite close and Lamiroir grew fond of the sound of his piano. He was pretty young when they met--only nine or ten, and as an orphan, Machi probably didn't have a lot of prospects. However, the two of them grew quite close and Lamiroir grew fond of the sound of his piano, so she stipulated his presence in her contract when she was scouted, and the two were always seen together--literally, as the two were always hand in hand, both in public and in private.
There was in fact a second, hidden reason for the constant contact, however--though blind, Lamiroir was billed as "the landscape painter in sound," supposedly because she painted what she saw through her music. Her production team was unaware of her blindness when they billed the catchphrase, and by the time the mistake was caught, it was too late... so Machi pretended to be blind instead and kept up the deception while actually leading her and drawing symbols into her hand to signal important things that she needed to "see." Lamiroir's blindness was a very closely kept secret, and in fact its secrecy was also part of their contract, as was Machi's perfectly normal vision.
At some point, however, Machi found himself in need of a very large sum of money, far more than he could ever hope to make, and ended up agreeing to help a Stateside police detective named Daryan Crescend smuggle a very rare cocoon--called a Borginian cocoon--into the United States for money. This was an extremely dangerous operation, as the transport of said cocoon was highly illegal and being convicted of its smuggling carried a death sentence in Borginia. This was in part because of the cocoon's uses--on the one hand, it was required to make a potent curative--the only cure, in fact--for a rare but fatal disease called 'incuritis.' On the other hand, it could also be synthesised into an extremely powerful poison, called atroquinine. Nigh-undetectable, atroquinine was fast-acting and untreatably lethal, even in small doses. Despite this, Machi got the cocoon to the States, a feat he accomplished by hiding it inside a guitar belonging to a famous prosecutor/rock star named Klavier (Daryan, by the way, was a bassist in said star's band)... a guitar that Lamiroir had gifted to the man after meeting and composing a song with him. Klavier, unaware, vacuum-sealed and express-shipped the instrument to the U.S., bypassing many checkpoints and safety points with his legal status--basically, he had it handled as evidence, and thereby inadvertently prevented the cocoon's detection. Unfortunately, Lamiroir's new manager, Romein LeTouse, was an undercover agent who was looking for cocoons, among other things. And when Lamiroir and Machi went to Britain to do a concert with Klavier's band... LeTouse was murdered. In the middle of the concert. With his own gun. Machi was accused of the crime, largely on the premise that he was one of the few available (i.e. not on stage) at the time of the murder and he was the only one small enough to escape through the air vents, which were the only conceivable exit. And, too, there was the delicate international status of the crime itself (not to mention the scandal of the trial itself), and a political desire to get things wrapped up as quickly as possible. As the trial went on, it was first concluded that the murder was apparently both staged and committed to the lyrics of the song Lamiroir and Klavier had composed together. The truth of Machi's vision--and Lamiroir's--was revealed quickly, making it clear that Machi could very well have seen to commit the murder. Later, however, outside evidence and testimony revealed that Daryan had in fact both set up and framed Machi after killing LeTouse, using the song to get away with it. Machi himself had secretly destroyed the cocoon during the concert, on Daryan's signal, which was issued when Daryan realised they had been discovered. Unfortunately, in order to convict Daryan of this, they first had to get Machi to talk--something they could only do after discovering he could understand English, albeit in a limited fashion. Despite Daryan's pleas and arrogant dismissal of Machi, the pianist finally confessed, revealing that he had actually witnessed the crime, and--frightened--hidden behind a dresser before fleeing up through an air vent, where he had been caught by Daryan and knocked out, who had then set Machi and the corpse up in a way that mimicked the lyrics. Once caught in the dressing room, Daryan had murdered LeTouse in panic and framed Machi afterwards.
In short, Machi was not guilty of murder.
He was, however, guilty of perjury, and what was--in his home country--a capital crime. Just as bad as murder, as far as the end result was concerned.
The revelation that the United States did not view it as harshly was a key reason that Machi was absolved of the murder charge to begin with--had Apollo not declared this to the court, he may very well have gone to death row. Instead, Daryan, losing control, revealed his own guilt, and Machi was absolved of one crime but found guilty of another, and he has spent the past eight months in prison. It is from this point in canon that I pull him.
Re: [CANON] Machi Tobaye || Ace Attorney || Re-App No Reserve || 2 of 3
There was in fact a second, hidden reason for the constant contact, however--though blind, Lamiroir was billed as "the landscape painter in sound," supposedly because she painted what she saw through her music. Her production team was unaware of her blindness when they billed the catchphrase, and by the time the mistake was caught, it was too late... so Machi pretended to be blind instead and kept up the deception while actually leading her and drawing symbols into her hand to signal important things that she needed to "see." Lamiroir's blindness was a very closely kept secret, and in fact its secrecy was also part of their contract, as was Machi's perfectly normal vision.
At some point, however, Machi found himself in need of a very large sum of money, far more than he could ever hope to make, and ended up agreeing to help a Stateside police detective named Daryan Crescend smuggle a very rare cocoon--called a Borginian cocoon--into the United States for money. This was an extremely dangerous operation, as the transport of said cocoon was highly illegal and being convicted of its smuggling carried a death sentence in Borginia. This was in part because of the cocoon's uses--on the one hand, it was required to make a potent curative--the only cure, in fact--for a rare but fatal disease called 'incuritis.' On the other hand, it could also be synthesised into an extremely powerful poison, called atroquinine. Nigh-undetectable, atroquinine was fast-acting and untreatably lethal, even in small doses. Despite this, Machi got the cocoon to the States, a feat he accomplished by hiding it inside a guitar belonging to a famous prosecutor/rock star named Klavier (Daryan, by the way, was a bassist in said star's band)... a guitar that Lamiroir had gifted to the man after meeting and composing a song with him. Klavier, unaware, vacuum-sealed and express-shipped the instrument to the U.S., bypassing many checkpoints and safety points with his legal status--basically, he had it handled as evidence, and thereby inadvertently prevented the cocoon's detection. Unfortunately, Lamiroir's new manager, Romein LeTouse, was an undercover agent who was looking for cocoons, among other things. And when Lamiroir and Machi went to Britain to do a concert with Klavier's band... LeTouse was murdered. In the middle of the concert. With his own gun. Machi was accused of the crime, largely on the premise that he was one of the few available (i.e. not on stage) at the time of the murder and he was the only one small enough to escape through the air vents, which were the only conceivable exit. And, too, there was the delicate international status of the crime itself (not to mention the scandal of the trial itself), and a political desire to get things wrapped up as quickly as possible. As the trial went on, it was first concluded that the murder was apparently both staged and committed to the lyrics of the song Lamiroir and Klavier had composed together. The truth of Machi's vision--and Lamiroir's--was revealed quickly, making it clear that Machi could very well have seen to commit the murder. Later, however, outside evidence and testimony revealed that Daryan had in fact both set up and framed Machi after killing LeTouse, using the song to get away with it. Machi himself had secretly destroyed the cocoon during the concert, on Daryan's signal, which was issued when Daryan realised they had been discovered. Unfortunately, in order to convict Daryan of this, they first had to get Machi to talk--something they could only do after discovering he could understand English, albeit in a limited fashion. Despite Daryan's pleas and arrogant dismissal of Machi, the pianist finally confessed, revealing that he had actually witnessed the crime, and--frightened--hidden behind a dresser before fleeing up through an air vent, where he had been caught by Daryan and knocked out, who had then set Machi and the corpse up in a way that mimicked the lyrics. Once caught in the dressing room, Daryan had murdered LeTouse in panic and framed Machi afterwards.
In short, Machi was not guilty of murder.
He was, however, guilty of perjury, and what was--in his home country--a capital crime. Just as bad as murder, as far as the end result was concerned.
The revelation that the United States did not view it as harshly was a key reason that Machi was absolved of the murder charge to begin with--had Apollo not declared this to the court, he may very well have gone to death row. Instead, Daryan, losing control, revealed his own guilt, and Machi was absolved of one crime but found guilty of another, and he has spent the past eight months in prison. It is from this point in canon that I pull him.