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Thomas Mesereau

American lawyer

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ705130 ↗
Source-derived summary

Thomas Arthur Mesereau Jr. (born July 1, 1950) is an American attorney known for defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial, as well as Mike Tyson, Bill Cosby and Danny Masterson, a case in which Mesereau was sanctioned for sharing sensitive trial information, including the addresses of Masterson’s accusers, with Church of Scientology civil attorneys.

Legal cases

Mike Tyson

Mesereau represented former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in a rape investigation conducted by the San Bernardino County, California District Attorney's Office in 2001. Charges were dropped.

Robert Blake (actor)

Mesereau was the second lawyer during pre-trial proceedings in actor Robert Blake's case for the murder of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. Blake's first attorney Harland Braun resigned over Blake's decision to appear in a televised interview with Diane Sawyer against Braun's advice. For unprofessional conduct during the deposition, Mesereau was fined $18,950. After losing an appeal of the fine, he paid a total of $22,000. After Blake spent ten months in isolation in Los Angeles County Jail, Mesereau obtained bail for him. Mesereau cross-examined prosecution witnesses in a three-week, televised preliminary hearing.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Thomas Mesereau” is american lawyer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Thomas, Mesereau and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1950, 2005, 2001—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1950-07-01. For this dossier, Thomas, Mesereau and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american lawyer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q705130. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1950, 2005 and 2001.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Thomas Mesereau”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Thomas Mesereau primary sources, Thomas Mesereau archive and Thomas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Thomas Mesereau”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Thomas Mesereau” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.