You're getting downvoted because of the harsh language, but you're right. The defendant brought a banana to a gun fight. Downvoters, please read the actual ruling[1]. He didn't even seem to understand the basics of defending oneself in court, filing motions in the wrong order, making arguments without evidence, and so on. What he should have done was 1. stop doing whatever it is he was accused of until the case cleared up, so fines stopped accruing, and 2. hired a competent attorney to defend him. He didn't do either of these and instead winged it in court complaining about how unfair everything was.
I am totally on his side, too. It's ridiculous that you can't work on cars in your backyard. But he did everything wrong in his interactions with the State.
If $500K was on the line, would you just yolo it and act as your own attorney?
1: https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/C092141.PDF