Thomas Mesereau

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Thomas A. Mesereau, Jr. at the 2005 Michael Jackson trial
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Thomas A. Mesereau, Jr. at the 2005 Michael Jackson trial

Thomas Arthur Mesereau, Jr. is an American trial attorney and former amateur boxer best known for successfully defending Michael Jackson in the 2005 child molestation trial. His celebrity criminal defense work is balanced by his personal and professional commitment to seeking justice for the legally underserved and "railroaded" victims of overzealous criminal prosecution offices. He devotes his time and money to notable pro bono legal services to the African-American communities of Los Angeles and the American South. He is a founding partner of Collins Mesereau Reddock & Yu LLP, a small general practice law firm located in Century City, California.

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[edit] Education and early career

Born in West Point, New York in 1950 to an affluent and politically liberal former Military Academy football assistant coach and his wife. Mesereau graduated from Phillips Academy in 1969 and earned a 1973 bachelor's degree from Harvard University while active both as an active member of the Harvard boxing and football teams and as a Vietnam War protester. After a year in Washington D.C. as a Capitol Hill staffer, he earned a 1975 Master's Degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law, located in San Francisco, California.

Following law school, Tom moved to Washington D.C. to spend two years as a junior associate for a prestigious corporate litigation firm. He then spent a year as a deputy in the Orange County District Attorney's office before a three year stay as an executive at Getty Synthetic Fuels Inc., in Orange County, California. Boredom with corporate life in 1985 resulted in a change of career goals. He made a long-term plan to transition to criminal defense, a specialty he found far more engaging and personally satisfying, and entered private practice in Los Angeles.

Before the success and media spotlight of the Michael Jackson child molestation trial, Mesereau represented other controversial and high-profile criminal defendants.

Mesereau briefly considered representing convicted Helter Skelter murder mastermind Charles Manson, but changed his mind after a three hours interview with the infamous convict. Rapist and sexual assault defendant Mike Tyson1, and actor and comedian A.J. Johnson, who was accused of multiple charges including kidnapping and assault with knife and firearm, are two other famous former clients of Mr. Mesereau's.

Some of Mesereau's lower-profile, though no less controversial, clients have included a former member of the 70's domestic political terror group, the Symbionese Liberation Army, and a woman charged with beating to death her 22-month-old daughter with a plastic soft drink bottle filled with M&M's. A gang member by the name of "Little Hit-Man" was acquitted of murdering a rival "gangbanger" at an intersection during daylight, despite three prosecution eyewitnesses and a potential "third-strike" life sentence.

[edit] The Robert Blake murder trial

Thomas Mesereau first came to national attention as the lead counsel of the second of three consecutive trial teams to represent the belligerent and headstrong film and television actor Robert Blake during his preliminary hearing and other pre-trial hearings while charged with the murder of wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. As Bakley was shot and killed while sitting in their car waiting for Blake's return from the Studio City Italian restaurant Vitello's with his initially forgotten gun, Blake was charged with the special circumstance of lying in wait, which in California carries the possibility of the death sentence.

Following the recusal of first lead attorney Harland Braun over Blake's decision to appear in a televised interview with Diane Sawyer against Braun's advice and counsel, Mesereau was chosen to replace him as the new lead counsel for the defense in November, 2002. Mesereau was chosen by Blake because of his reputation for representing legal underdogs in tough trials and his commitment to serving the local black community.

Representing Robert Blake during his pre-trial hearings, Mesereau's unlikely legal victories included winning Blake his right to freedom while awaiting trial - albeit under house arrest with $1.5 million bail, and while wearing an ankle bracelet tracking device -, and had a conspiracy to commit murder charge against Blake, and consequently alleged co-conspirator Earle Caldwell, dismissed. Mesereau friend and former Hastings law school colleague Dana Cole represented Caldwell in the case.

Noteworthy and controversial strategy employed by Mesereau for the Blake defense included the aggressive use of noted investigator Steve Ross to unearth unsavory details about Bakely's past as a small-time internet porn merchant, grifter, low-level celebrity hanger-on, and her alleged plans to entrap Blake by getting pregnant. The technique that results from such information, "blame the victim," and the investigative services of Steve Ross were again successfully used during the Jackson trial a year later.

As the 2004 pre-trial hearings period progressed, rumors began to spread of growing tension between the defense team and defendant Blake. One version described Blake's unhappiness with having Mesereau's partner and co-counsel Susan Yu on his team, while Mesereau then refused to attend court without her. Ms. Yu's position as co-counsel and second chair in court was noticeably reduced to sitting behind the defense table and not visibly participating in court.

Another version recounted Mesereau's mounting frustration with his inability to control the head-strong actor. Blake gave a televised interview with broadcast journalist Barbara Walters against his lawyer's advice. Blake was also known to have independently hired additional investigators to report directly to the actor. Blake also allegedly hired two attorneys to draft legal motions, also without Mesereau's approval or knowledge.

Amidst additional rumors of increasing contact with the Michael Jackson camp during the molestation pre-trial phase, Mesereau finally recused himself and Yu from the case in late April 2004, citing "irreconcilable differences." Subsequently represented by San Francisco trial attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach, continuing the "blame the victim" strategy begun by Mesereau, Blake was ultimately acquitted in March of 2005.

[edit] The 2005 Michael Jackson child molestation trial

Thomas Mesereau was initially approached to be the legal counsel for Michael Jackson in early 2003 following the airing of the controversial Martin Bashir television documentary, Living with Michael Jackson. In the documentary, Jackson appears holding hands with the 12-year old future accuser, and admits to sharing his bed with children. Threats of potential child custody and criminal charges prompted the need for aggressive legal representation, and Mesereau was the Jackson's first choice. Mesereau refused the position as he was exclusively committed to the Robert Blake defense; Jackson subsequently retained Los Angeles celebrity attorney Mark Geragos and New Yorker Benjamin Brafman.

As child molestation, conspiracy and alcohol-related charges were brought, the investigation continued, the media painted Jackson as already guilty, and pretrial hearings went on, Jackson brothers Randy and Jermaine became increasingly unhappy having to share the time and attention of lead defense attorney Mark Geragos with his other famous client, Scott Peterson, during the months-long death-penalty murder trial and media circus. Based in New York, and with other clients of his own, co-counsel Ben Brafman was not able to satisfactorily replace Geragos's attention. Rumours began that the Jacksons were consulting Mesereau as early as November 2003. Geragos and Brafman were formally replaced by Mesereau and co-counsel Susan Yu in April of 2004.

[edit] Legal service to the community

Balancing Mr. Mesereau's high-profile courtroom career achievements are his pro bono legal projects aiding the needy, particularly those in the African-American community. He regularly donates two Sundays a month to serving low income, indigent, and minority clients with their legal matters--from the mundane to the life-altering--at a monthly legal clinic in South Los Angeles operated by the First AME Church and the UCLA School of Law. In addition, Mesereau donates his time, personal funds, and criminal defense skills once a year to represent low income, African-American criminal defendants facing the death penalty in Alabama and Mississippi.

He has been named "Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year" by the Century City Bar Association, Los Angeles, and has been listed as one of the "One Hundred Most Influential Attorneys in California" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Mr. Mesereau has similarly received the “Humanitarian Award” from The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ), “In Recognition of Your ongoing Commitment to Justice for All.” Mr. Mesereau has conducted seminars for NABCJ on various aspects of the criminal justice system.

[edit] Private life

Tom Mesereau lives in West Los Angeles and is known to live a low-key lifestyle, favoring movies, plays, neighborhood walks, local restaurants, Clippers basketball games, and the occasional professional boxing match. Divorced seventeen years ago from former Vogue model Heidi Gold2, he is currently dating actress, singer, songwriter, and event planner Minnie Foxx.

He is known for his long, wavy white hair.

[edit] Trivia

  • Tom Mesereau and Michael Jackson trial prosecution D.A. Tom Sneddon were both boxers on their college teams, Harvard and Notre Dame, respectively.
  • Thomas Mesereau, Sr., graduated in the war-shortened West Point Class of January 1943, served with the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific, and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action and the Purple Heart for wounds.
  • Mesereau's mother's family created and operated the famous New York restaurant Mama Leone's. Young Tom worked there briefly.
  • While at Hastings College of the Law, Mesereau was known as The Mez.
  • Mesereau has been known to enjoy hanging out at boxing training gyms, and getting massages at a spa in Big Sur.
  • Tom claims to have season tickets to the Los Angeles Clippers basketball games rather than the more successful L.A. Lakers because he likes to support the underdog.
  • While attending Hastings College of the Law, Tom was known more to spend much of his spare time hanging out in cafes, meeting new people, and socializing rather than studying. This resulted in mediocre grades.
  • Tom Mesereau has worn his hair long, with its signature shoulder-length shag style, since at least the late '70s while attending law school.

[edit] External links

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