Is there “absolutely no question”? Maybe there were problems with the case. It was a DNA hit much later; his DNA on the weapon just establishes that he probably touched it. He did get ten years; maybe the difference in penalty wasn’t worth a fight over the name of the offence (do you let him plead to attempted assault for ten years, or do you run the risk of a trial to get twelve years for assault). Maybe they wanted to get him into an institution (he was previously committed to a psychiatric facility) that wouldn’t take him with a conviction for assault. We simply don’t have enough facts.
