even when in my mind it's clear the police were being unreasonable and the prosecutors too by even bringing the charge, juries often side w/the prosecution/police and ask 'why didn't the defendant just comply?'

like my client who was found guilty of resisting where a video showed he was standing in the door of a squad car, handcuffed, and got in the car 20 seconds after he was first ordered to get in. during the 20 seconds testimony showed that he was talking to his wife about locking up the house and his truck while he was away (at jail). also during those 20 seconds one of the cops tasered the defendant. keep in mind this same cop had previously testified that the defendant didn't present his hands for handcuffing and video contradicted the cop (that count was dismissed by the judge before jury deliberation). i argued the tasering/lying cop had damaged his credibility by lying to the jury - and they KNEW he'd lied b/c they heard his testimony and saw the video. i argued that the fact that the cop tasered my client didn't mean my client was not following the cop's order it just meant that cop was unreasonable - indeed, that cop had even sat in front of the jury and LIED to them. so i just knew i had a winner.

NOPE!

to this day i don't get it.

i don't completely understand what makes regular ppl fail to see unreasonable action by authority figures and/or what keeps them from siding w/other regular ppl when those folks are dealing w/unreasonable authority.

so yeah in that United Airlines case - the ppl who say the doc should've just complied w/the airline and/or the police and fail to question whether the airline or the police were using their authority properly....i don't know what that's about. i can guess - abusive parents, a desire to have order, fear...but that's all i have. i don't really know. i don't get it.

when i was a kid i absolutely hated when my parents told me to do something and the only justification they offered was 'because i said so'. i told them this a few times - that 'because i said so' was not a good enough reason for me to do anything. that didn't go well but i didn't care. i never accepted 'because i said so'. i wanted to know WHY they had said so. now as an adult i get it but i'm still proud of little me for challenging them on that shit. and i'd do it again today if in the same situation.
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