It never crossed anyone's mind around here that he might be guilty of one or more of the charges despite the fact that contempt of cop was a huge element in this thing?
That contempt of cop is such a huge element is enough to make me support Phil, regardless of innocence or guilt on the other charges. I feel that contempt-of-cop arrests/charges are despicable and should result in harsh punishment against the cops to help level the playing field between LEOs and citizens.
As for guilt on the charges, how is it criminal trespass to be in an airport holding a paid-for plane ticket? Disorderly conduct and resisting/obstructing are contempt-of-cop charges for asserting his right to remain silent, and in my opinion, concealing identity is bogus given that a boarding pass with his name was being passed around.
The tapes make it pretty clear that Phil thought the proper place to vindicate his rights was on the street and not in a court of law.
Have you seen/heard the tapes? Have they been made public? If so, I would encourage you to post a link here. I did not think they had been released, but maybe I missed something.
I think sympathy from the jurors will be very hard to come by when they hear the tapes in court . . . it sounds as though he made a scene when his "rights" were violated rather than dealing with the issue in a productive manner.
The great thing about jury trials, assuming the tapes are available and played to the jury, is that the jury can clearly sort out the differences in the two sides of the story, one of which claims Phil just tried to assert his rights and the other of which claims he made a "scene." I've served on a jury in a criminal trial that resulted from a landlord-tenant dispute. The testimony from the sides was hugely contradictory, but both sides allowed the many months of email exchanges between the parties to be admitted into evidence. The emails made it very clear which side was correct on which issues at which times.