You nailed it. He made too big a production out of it. He should've stuck to basic, provable facts instead of trying to throw the book at him.
Remember Gil Garcetti? Instead of trying the Rodney King cops with assault, he went with Attempted Murder among other things, and there was no way they could prove it. So the cops walked, and started one of the worst riots (Watts II) in California history.
Self-aggrandizement is a big problem with DAs, because like any other lawyer, they want glory and publicity for their career or their book. If they just do their job right, they'll get all the glory they need, but some of them don't see that.