The punishment for treason in Weimar Germany was death! And Hitler was charged with High Treason, and at his trial he never denied any of the charges against him. But in between the November Putsch and the February trial, the Weimar Government passed an emergency decree which radically altered the way trials worked. Instead of having a trial by jury, as we have in the US, the Weimar government adopted a trial by judge system. Essentially, the Judge decided a guilty/not guilty verdict, then passed down a sentence which he felt appropriate. Well, that wouldnt have mattered much in Hitler's trial if the judge had been politically neutral, or even a flaming liberal. But Hitler got one of the most conservative and right-wing judges in Bavaria. Instead of trying Hitler as a traitor, he allowed the Hitler (who defended himself) to use the trial as a platform to spew his ideas for Germany. Hitler's trial became a sensation, and it catapulted Hitler into the center of Germany's right-wing politics. There could be no doubt in anybodies mind that Hitler was guilty, he even admitted to leading the Putsch in court. But the Judge who eventually sentenced Hitler sympathized with the Bavarian Corporal. He gave him a "slap on the wrist" and sentenced him to five years in a Bavarian prison (his cell, by the way, was a wonderful room with a nice view ). He would only serve 9 months of that sentence.

This source isn't the most respected amongst historians so forgive me, but William Shirer wrote that it was due to the trial's conservative judges and their political sympathies with Hitler. "The consequences of committing high treason, if you were a man of the extreme Right, were not unduly heavy, despite the law"

Apparently he also defended himself extremely well and dominated the courtroom during trial. (69)