Mr. Mesereau traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to defend a controversial, high-profile death penalty case. The defendant had spent 6 years on death row after being convicted of a brutal double homicide while being represented by another lawyer. The defendant had previously testified when convicted. After having his conviction reversed on a technicality, Mr. Mesereau and new local counsel agreed to defend the re-trial. The prosecution introduced evidence that Mr. Mesereau’s client had shot two innocent young men in a public park while on drugs fueled by devil worship. Tom Mesereau’s cross-examination of the key prosecution witness resulted in this witness almost confessing to the murder! Mr. Mesereau called his client to the witness stand and had him testify a second time. Mr. Mesereau’s client was acquitted on all counts. This acquittal caused an editorial in the Birmingham News, Alabama which criticized wrongful prosecutions and convictions. See article: Random Justice- Death Row inmate found not guilty in third trial.
Significance: The acquittal of Mr. Mesereau’s client, Wesley Quick, is listed in the Report of the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law.
