Once the prosecution has rested its case, it entirely up to Gerard , under advisement for which he pays for, when he testifies, or if.. but I think he will. He doesn't have the opportunity to testify while the Crown makes it's case for his conviction. ... the Crown wouldn't call on Gerard to make its own case. I'd think he'd appear last, once all the defence witnesses have testified, this is the usual thing.... possibly he could testify twice on a matter of conflict.....
His defence would know exactly what the Crown is putting forward and strategy would be worked out...no surprises in that context.. so he'd know, going in , whats coming up.
I still think that come July, its not improbable that he will plead guilty.... its not a long shot... there is a discount in sentencing in it, a discount for saving taxpayers money, the courts time, etc, saving the family of Alison more stress... all these things are considered in that particular event...
and that's ok too... when he is sentenced, the entire body of the crime will be delineated and re constructed towards the weighting given to the sentence.... we'll get the guts of it both ways.