Chaserious -
To answer your questions:
1. I am confident that the man in the video is who he claims to be. There are several reasons for this, but I am pledged not to reveal those details. I've never had the opportunity to meet "John Steele" in person. Perhaps Balaamsass and Devil_Fish can step in here and confirm as they are familiar with this congregation and its members.
2. You should not be too critical of the fact that these fellows did not have a lawyer. My understanding is that John Steele, while not being an attorney or paralegal, did have a great deal of experience in preparing legal filings and understood court procedures. As Balaamsass states above, they are basically " window washers and a carpenter" - which is not true in the strictest sense - but gives you a clue as to their income availability. They really crippled their case by making it clear that they never were in the fight for the money - it was all about principle and revealing the facts. Attorneys, unless they are associated with a volunteer / non-profit organization like ACLU or Americans United for Church and State, work for pay. They will often take a case as long as they can see the possibility of winning and sharing in the proceeds, but there are few that will take on an extended case with no hope of having at least their costs reimbursed.
3. Perhaps Balaamsass can speak to the "tickets and trumped up charges" issue. Bruce Raditich is well known in the area as being a JW security consultant. The plaintiffs and John Steele (and the fellow run off the road) all had situations where at random times while away from home they would encounter elders and other JWs at unusual times and places for no apparent reason. This type of acitivity is mentioned both in these videos and in the court documents. The number of incidents became too common just to be random encounters and in most cases there were several unrelated JWs together in odd places like a drug store or shopping together at a WalMart. While this could happen on very rare occasions, the number of incidents these fellows and their families experienced are well above the norm of chance and circumstance. This is not the first time I have been told stories of WT "close surveillance." Also, several of my anonymous contacts told me that they were using "throw away" phones to call me because they were afraid that their cell phones were being tapped or they were being followed by "GPS." Paranoia? Perhaps - but very possible, especially when you have a brother down the road experienced in electronic surveillance and landline tapping.
4. About John Steele's assertion that he was banned from Canada? This is more frequent than you might guess. Since 9/11, the Canadian border patrol has a database that flags the entry points with any claims or suspicions that someone crossing over might have a criminal history or is currently being charged with even a misdemeanor. I know individuals who tried to cross over to Vancouver and never made it because the border patrol found an old entry on the database. I believe when this happens that they do give the person a form or information packet that tells them how to get these issues resolved. I personally know of one person who flew into Canada and then was immediately turned around and sent back because of bogus information on the Canadian database that ties into the FBI criminal database. Steele mentions that his rejection was due to some old misdemeanor charges.
JV