Tom Mesereau defended a murder case which ended in a jury acquittal. He put his client on the stand to explain why he shot a gun at a witness. The prosecution pursued a novel theory of murder. Called “vicarious liability,” the prosecutors tried to prove that Mr. Mesereau’s client fired a shot at (A) and that (A) returned fire, accidentally killing the victim (B). Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Mesereau’s client was responsible for the death of (B). (B) was a disabled individual who sat in a wheelchair.
Significance: The prosecution hoped that a theory of “vicarious liability” would result in further prosecutions in similar circumstances. It didn’t!
