DAs do this all the time with cops charged with murder, and lose, so they can shield them, and the city, from civil financial exposure.
In one syllable terms, the DA went into the tank for the sanctuary city's policy.
Interesting theory, but how many people who wanted a conviction would complain if the killer weren't charged with murder one?
I don't doubt that you're right, but I can very easily imagine the outcry here and elsewhere on the Internet if the indictment were for a lesser charge.
That's the subtle beauty of it. The DA has to stick out his lower lip and pout for the cameras, while he gets to keep his job. The Mayor's office gets what it wants, cover for their illegal "sanctuary city" policy, and the Island of Communism can blandly point to the Constitution, the laws of this country, and shrug.
The rest of the United States sorta takes it in the rectum, but since when have democrats ever given a flying f#ck about this country?