Kolodziej v. Mason

Facts

Mason made comments while representing criminal defendant Nelson Serrano, who stood accused of murdering his former business partner. During Serrano’s highly publicized capital murder trial, Mason participated in an interview with NBC News in which he focused on the seeming implausibility of the prosecution’s theory of the case. In opposing the evidence provided by the prosecution, Mason said “I challenge anybody to show me. If they can do it, I’ll challenge them. I’ll pay them a million dolloars if they can do it.” Enter Kolodzieg, then a law student at the South Texas College of Law, who had been following the Serrano case, saw the edited version of Mason’s interview and understood the statement as a serious challenge, open to anyone, to make it off the plane and back to the hotel within twenty-eight minutes in return for one million dollars. He subsequently recorded himself retracting Serrano’s alleged rout and sent Mason a copy of the recording. Upon Mason’s refusal to pay a breach of contract, Kolodzieg sued Mason and Mason’s law firm.