Dhruv Trivedi
‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ follows prolific attorney Mickey Haller, who works his criminal defense cases while on the move on the streets of LA in his signature Lincoln automobile. Season 1 of the Netflix series opens with the confounding murder of Jerry Vincent, an acquaintance of Mickey’s who inexplicably leaves his entire legal practices to the latter.
The specter of Jerry’s murder haunts our hero for most of season 1, and Mickey also finds his own life in danger. The perpetrators of the murder and their motives also remain tantalizingly out of reach. If you’ve got questions about Jerry Vincent, here’s everything you need to know about this crucial but rarely seen character from ‘The Lincoln Lawyer.’ SPOILERS AHEAD.
Who Kills Jerry Vincent in The Lincoln Lawyer?
Jerry Vincent is killed in the opening moments of season 1. The lawyer heads to his car at night, and it is clear he fears that he is being followed. Jerry is shot at point-blank range as he gets into the car, and the perpetrator makes off with the lawyer’s briefcase. Thus starts the long-running mystery of Jerry’s murder, which becomes all the more confounding when it is found that Jerry has left his entire legal practice to Mickey Haller.
Since Jerry’s murder is suspected to be connected to one of his cases, the fact that Mickey is now in charge of all the cases puts the latter in danger. However, despite finding suspicious activity in Jerry’s bank accounts and the possibility of him having bribed a jury member, there are no strong leads as to who might have murdered him. Detective Raymond Griggs, who is on the case, also remains flummoxed for most of the season.
All of this changes when Mickey himself is attacked. He survives because of Detective Griggs’ timely intervention, but the attacker falls off the cliff and dies in the ensuing struggle. However, Mickey recognizes the attacker as the mysterious “Juror 7,” who was a part of the Trevor Elliott trial until it was discovered that he has been bribed, after which he disappears.
The missing juror’s name is eventually tracked down to be McSweeney, and Mickey reveals that he is the same man that murdered Jerry. Thus, Jerry Vincent is shot by McSweeney, who seems to be a small-time criminal. However, the motive behind Jerry’s murder and the person guiding McSweeney’s crimes remains elusive for a little longer.
Why is Jerry Vincent Killed?
The person orchestrating Jerry Vincent’s murder is one of the show’s biggest reveals, and it all goes down in the closing moments of season 1. Mickey confronts Judge Mary Holder after realizing that the senior judge has been pulling the strings all along. Our hero deduces that Mary Holder has been using her position to illegally rig juries in return for massive payouts. Jerry Vincent is revealed to be part of one of her schemes.
The big reveal at the end is that Jerry actually paid the judge to rig the jury in the high-profile Trevor Elliott trial but then got cold feet. Not wanting Jerry to back out of the deal, the judge subsequently had him killed. The man who killed Jerry then shows up as a jury member in Trevor’s trial but disappears after it is discovered that one of the jury members is bribed. It is obvious that the man, McSweeney, is in the pay of Mary Holder. After realizing that Mickey is getting too close to the truth, the judge then directs McSweeney to kill him. However, the lawyer survives and eventually manages to bring Mary Holder to justice as well.
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