Editor’s note: This story has been updated since publication to reflect the fact that Tony Phillips arrived at court several hours after his hearing and an arrest warrant issued by the judge was lifted.
A San Francisco judge briefly issued then removed an arrest warrant for Tony Phillips, the man whom Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard confronted and tussled with in the Tenderloin on March 5. Phillips had failed to show up for a Friday morning court hearing but appeared before the judge later in the afternoon. A new preliminary hearing date has been set for June 16.
Phillips has been charged with resisting and assaulting a police officer after the mayor and the bodyguard asked Phillips to move from Cedar Street, resulting in a physical altercation.
At the Hall of Justice Friday, Ivan Rodriguez, a lawyer representing Phillips, was scheduled to ask the judge to order Lurie’s live testimony for Phillips’ June 2 preliminary hearing. He will now make that request next week.
Rodriguez told Gazetteer SF that he hadn’t been able to locate his client, explaining that Phillips is homeless, and suffering from mental illness. The postponement reflects a “systemic issue” in the city’s criminal justice process, Rodriguez said.
“This didn’t just start now,” Rodriguez said. “Mr. Phillips has been out in the street for years and years and years. He’s certainly somebody that the system has failed, the government has failed.”
Court filings and video of the confrontation show Joel Aguayo, a police officer in Lurie’s security detail, making the first physical contact by pushing Phillips to the ground. Rodriguez said the evidence shows Phillips “isn’t the guilty party here.”
Earlier this month, Phillips won a release from jail on an unrelated charge. Rodriguez has argued that his client had no idea who Aguayo or Lurie were when they accosted him.
Rodriguez said he has met outside of court with the judge and lawyers from the district attorney’s office to figure out how to advance the case given the personal challenges Phillips faces.
“For the most part, all sides have been compassionate about it, and understanding,” Rodriguez said.
