If they wanted it to look legit, the "judge" shouldn't have acted in such a blatantly partisan way. They had the case won before it started, when the flooded the zone with more communist jurors than the defense had strikes. Prosecution could have called no witnesses and rested, but still won. The "judge" acting as an unbiased judge wouldn't have changed the outcome.

That tells me they didn't want it to look legit.