>>49971440
>particularly since several of those weren't really predictable from the votes
They were all telegraphed. Haruka literally told us that he will commit suicide if Muu gets voted guilty. She got voted guilty and he made good on his word. Amane made it clear she had problems with Shidou. She was voted innocent and therefore allowed to operate unrestrained, so she killed Shidou as predicted. Shidou told us that Mahiru is too injured to survive without regular care from him. Once he died, that was it for her. The only thing that was surprising was how badly the voters fucked while being completely unaware.
I don't think there was a "right" choice for everything to go smoothly. I think no matter what the votes are, something will go awry for the sake of the story, even if it might not be as bad as the current state. For trial 2, there was no chance Muu wouldn't get voted guilty (same for Kotoko) so Haruka's death was inevitable. But Amane's verdict was right on the border. It's interesting to speculate what could've been if she was voted guilty. Then she gets put in bondage like the other two guilty girls, and Shidou and Mahiru survive.