One thing that's been unclear - did the witnessess the TSA attorney allegedly coached testify in the criminal trial, or only in the penalty phase? Because if they testified at trial, that might get the entire conviction tossed on appeal.
It appears the alleged tampering occurred after the merits phase, so I do not think the whole case could be tossed. However, whatever the merits of this particular judge, ANY judge is going to get mighty upset if one of his or her orders is ignored or willfully violated in a high profile case. This was beyond stupid by the attorney involved and I hope she gets severly sanctioned.
Excellent question. Unfortunately, like you, I can only go by what's in the media report(s).