I have read a medium amount about this case, so maybe this issue has been covered well somewhere, but I just don’t see why the dude went to trial instead of pleading guilty.
It doesn’t look like he mounted that much of a defense. He would have to know the basic content of the prosecution’s case (including that he seems to have had a signature move with the whole “let’s lift you up to rinse off your hair” thing : pukey: ), and just gambling on the prosecution’s witnesses not showing up (or the prosecution otherwise being unable to prove its case) seems insane.
In addition to getting the same long prison sentence he would have gotten with a guilty plea, he gets all the details of his offenses aired in public. I just don’t understand it.
Was there any plausible legal strategy to going to trial in this case?