That would be the smart move certainly... But I don't expect the deal will be a particularly palatable! I expect the new advice will be - " make a deal and go down hard or proceed to trial and go down even harder!"
Having a public defender appointed in California is likely a good move on his part.
The public defender has already been assigned. She is NOT in California. This is a federal beef. I have to say her bio looks quite impressive. Not much chance of a mistrial on her watch I would wager! https://www.wawd.uscourts.gov/judges/peterson-bio