None really. He was a bit disrespectful of the court. He did not have very good courtroom manners, but he believed strongly he what he had done. The trial was sort of rigged in favor of the crown, and there there were religious overtones that were not very pleasant.
His council rested the defense case on Riel's supposed insanity. It might have been true, but all zealots sound a bit off center. Given what has recently happened, I doubt the outcome of this trial would have been the same as it was in 1885.
