Exactly - every prosecutor across the country every day makes those choices. That's why they plea cases down. It takes a lot of effort to go to a jury trial. If the defendant has a competent lawyer, it takes much much more effort. If the defendant will have a team of lawyers to stall at every turn...it takes that much more.

>so it feels disingenuous to blame this development

I'm not being disingenuous at all, nor blaming anything. I'm pointing out that Bragg has limited resources for a "novel legal theory" against a man with an army of lawyers. There is a good chance that if this prosecution goes forward, it could take literal years and could result in an acquittal.

I've not heard a single legal pundit say this a good case. With all that - is the potential juice worth the monumental squeeze?

What else could a team of four or five lawyers pursue over the course of 2-6 years aside from this? That's the tradeoff.