Watata is guilty or not guilty - his reasons for disobeying orders and missing shipment are immaterial.
If he is found guilty, that testimony may be introduced along with other matters of extenuation and mitigation. Following the defendent's presentation of matters of extenuation and mitigation, each member of the court will enter a recommended sentence on a slip of paper which will be placed in a hat. The proposed sentences are drawn from the hat and sorted by severity; the court then begins to vote on each proposed penalty beginning with the least severe - the first proposed sentence that receives a majority vote is adopted.
If an order is illegal an officer is required to disobey it. The court doesn't want to get into that, and I don't blame the judge. However, if they don't want the defense getting into it, they will have to come to a compromise.