Nope. Bad decision.
One member of a jury is enough to acquit. Having a judge only has no bearing on appeal. The verdict is not appealable, only the process is and the judge was on the hook for that anyway.
A fool for a client and a fool for the lawyer.
Hung jury gets you a mistrial, or a bench decision anyway. Denial of change of venue is part of the process and the decision to ask for a bench trial is supportive of the defense's position that they could not get a fair trial by jury due to bias and media tainting. You gotta play the hand you're dealt.