Perhaps Maddox feared that his case was so weak he would almost certainly lose if the matter was dragged on and on. He manipulated the system the get a fast "trial" so he would have a better chance at winning as there were no experts to defend Data and he was "the prosecutor".
I tend to look at the rush to trial like that too. This Maddox business wasn't born out of nothing. He's been at this a long time, not just the research application part, but the getting his hands on Data part. He had to know that the only likely way he'd ever achieve his goal is by getting into Data's circuits. My guess is that the abruptness of their visit was done deliberately. The whole Nakamura attitude of "Cmdr. Maddox is here to work on your android." just has a ring of being settled already, somewhere long before they stepped aboard. Maddox has finally got a working model he wants to move ahead with, made his presentation to Starfleet, & knew if it was viable enough, he'd get the green light, & would have the full backing of a Starfleet branch behind him
There is possibly even a hint of likelihood to the thought that since Maddox was on the evaluation committee that admitted Data into the Academy, he backed off his objections solely so they COULD establish dominion over him at a later time. It would be kind of hard to claim him as property if he'd never joined Starfleet. So you let him in
So it's possible that it took Maddox all this time to build a viable enough prototype, to warrant making their claim to using Data, & knowing that Data might object to experimental work on him, they set it up in this place & time deliberately, so they could sneak it through, & quite frankly, they almost did. No one would've expected such a compassionate response from Picard, even Louvois comments on how out of character it seems to be for him, before he jumps down her throat about it
This has the smell of a setup, from top to bottom, & Picard/ Riker/ Data & Louvois are just pawns they expected to play their part, & just let it fly under the radar. Hell, there were times even Data almost caved, & Picard had to encourage him to stand his ground. Why the rush? Because they know they're running a gambit here, & trying to hide behind rank & protocol to slip one by. They missed
Oh I do so love talking to death about the finer details! I just worry I'll ruin my enjoyment if I'm negatively picking it apart to completely dissect every little detail showing how it just couldn't work?
I'm willing to run that risk, to the point where a mod might have to just ask me to give it a rest now & then lol
The reason being, I've gotten really profound interpretations of the characters, the premises, & the show from deconstructing it quite minutely. There are conclusions about them, especially Data, that I might never have come to, if I'd just written things off as production glitches, or writer inconsistencies, or even actor errors, etc...
It's because I scrutinize this show's details, that I'm usually able to come up with workable reasons why a thing can be explained that wasn't. (Like above) Some times it works for me. Some times not so much
Characters with great inconsistencies, like Riker, or ones that are easily dismissed, like Jellico, take on a whole new dynamic when you deconstruct what is shown, & compare it to reality. What would be the point of this show, if it didn't relate to our reality somehow? Some times it's hard to reconcile & sometimes it isn't, & ultimately, when I scrutinize it so much, that's what my main goal is. Try to make the show work, even when it doesn't
