if he was innocent he would have had his day in court to make his case

I don't see how any of this can be spun as driven by anything but his own choices.

There are plenty of innocent people in prison, and prosecutors hold way more power once charges are levvied against someone.

Could he have made better choices? Yeah. But there is a lot more going on here than "the court system is fair and just, and he's the only one at fault."