Pontius Pilate was recalled back to Rome due to his brutality in Judea.
Which is why I LOL at people who blame Jooz for Jeebus' execution and believe all that nonsense in the Holy Buybull.
As is often the case when you post about this, there's a great point buried underneath your signature posting style. Historical-critical scholars are almost universally of the belief that Pilate was much more bent on executing Jesus than the Bible suggests and that the Gospels stressing the culpability of the Jewish leadership instead was a writerly choice with political and strategic dimensions to it.