Thanks for info on the judge. That's why I hope a FReeper who happens to be an attorney can help us out here. Were the judge's initial restrictions unreasonable, or did the TSA attorney screw the pooch?
The TSA attorney screwed the pooch. As I posted in an earlier thread about this matter, not only were the judge's restrictions reasonable, the Rule on Witnesses is mandatory if one of the parties asks for it: See Federal Rule of Evidence 615 which reads
Rule 615. Exclusion of Witnesses
At the request of a party the court shall order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear the testimony of other witnesses, and it may make the order of its own motion. This rule does not authorize exclusion of (1) a party who is a natural person, or (2) an officer or employee of a party which is not a natural person designated as its representative by its attorney, or (3) a person whose presence is shown by a party to be essential to the presentation of the party's cause, or (4) a person authorized by statute to be present.
There's just no excuse for what happened here, and we might literally all have to pay the cost of one government attorney's stupidity and/or arrogance for the rest of the defendant's natural life.