Is he somehow immune from the 6th Ammendment of the US Constitution, which states:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence
Virtually every jurisdiction allows a defendant to voluntarily waive trial by jury and have the case tried before the Judge, who will decide guilt or innocence. That's almost certainly what happened here and it was a foolish move. Most attorneys consider a bench trial nothing more than a long drawn out guilty plea. I would never advise a client to waive jury on a major felony.
Wondering if the defense atty convinced him to go to bench trial since it was a slam dunk (or should have been considering what I’m reading)? This is very frightening.