The reason Toad is only FRAMED for theft, when in the book he really does steal the car, is because in the 40's, The Hays Code had a very strict rule that in any movie, the audience should not feel ANY sympathy for the criminal, so having him actually steal the motorcar wouldn't make him very sympathetic.
The prosecutor repeatedly cutting off McBadger before he can finish his sentences is actually a rather brilliant Stealth Pun; he's BADGERING the witness!
If you go with the theory that The Headless Horseman is actually Brom in disguise, consider that there were many times he very earnestly tried to cut Ichabod's head off with that sword. Many times, he came really close, too.
When you look carefully at Brom's tale of the Headless Horseman, it's clear he's specifically directing it all to Ichabod, namely brandishing a very familiar looking sword with a Slasher Smile and then plucking a hair strand from Ichabod's head to showcase his precision of cutting. For all the narrator's talk about Brom's pranks having "no malice", this scene alone disproves such statement as Brom is most certainly acting malicious and thus it is believable that he would actually try to kill his rival by cutting off his head.
And Ichabod's survival at the end of the segment is only speculative.
