Legion near Judea at time of Jesus

[Flavivs Aetivs]

John says he was a lestes. And John gives a more detailed account of the trial.

Yes, but he is alone in doing so and he is the furthest of the Evangelists from the actual events. As I mentioned earlier, the descriptions of Barabbas change from Gospel to Gospel and his degree of criminality becomes more and more severe with each change. It is highly unlikely that any of the Evangelists knew exactly what happened or what was said during the trial. Like any author without access to the formal record (if there even was one), they made up court scenes to suit the message that they wished to convey.

It's like Chalons: the further in time from the battle, the more credit that is given to the Goths.

The fact of the matter is that there's simply not enough evidence to make any definitive conclusion about the professional Roman forces in Judea at the time.