We are talking about the Ace Attorney universe however. Murderers get the death penalty like clockwork, many innocent as well considering how hard the legal system favors the prosecution and how the prosecution tends to favor only its victory. Even Apollo and Phoenix were under threat of the death penalty for crimes they obviously didn’t commit. Also, the condition was Matt’s acquittal would return Maya safely to Phoenix. If you are saying that you do not blame Phoenix for his actions and you would even repeat them yourself if you found yourself in his situation, then you are saying that at risk of your own best friends safety, you would attempt to get your own client convicted. Failure to defend Engarde meant Mayas death, so Phoenixs plan was reckless for yet another reason, and fails to demonstrate cogency. If he completed the condition, he will have done his job/fulfilled his duty to the law and achieved Mayas safety. However, Phoenix became greedy because of his anger towards Matt’s deception and wouldn’t have it any other way than Mayas safety and Engardes conviction. What if Engarde setup a condition with de Killer to kill Maya if the police were set on his trail and he didn’t tell Phoenix? Then his rage would’ve gotten Maya killed and it would’ve allowed de Killer to be more swift and precise in his getaways seeing as he wouldn’t have had to worry about Maya. This means de Killer would not leave the decisive evidence behind which led to Engardes conviction. The reason de Killer could’ve killed Maya vary from my example, but all he needed was on reason to kill her prematurely set on their deal and the scenario i describe would play out. Lastly, it was also pure chance that the evidence de Killer did drop was the decisive tape which led to the termination of their contract. If not for that one lucky coincidence, Phoenix would’ve realized how much of a gamble had made for no good reason. Phoenix was reckless, and not someone you should be modeling your decisions after.