The bad reporting and publicity of the case is the reason there was no jury.
The publicity of the case in this area was so over the top that you were not going to seat an impartial jury. They would have had to move for a change of jurisdiction to another state to seat a jury on this case.
Sounds good, that’s what change of venue is for.
The reason there was no jury is because the cops didn’t want one and knew that the prosecutor and judge didn’t want a conviction. A jury could have screwed up their plans and actually convicted them.
Let this be a lesson. If a prosecutor doesn’t want a conviction, he’s not going to get one.
The real truth will come out in the civil trial that is sure to follow.