ORLANDO, Fla. – Jose Baez, the attorney who ascended to national prominence while representing Casey Anthony, is now representing Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul facing allegations of sexual assaults that sparked the #MeToo movement.
Baez and Harvard Law professor Ronald S. Sullivan have been retained by Weinstein, who has assembled a team of lawyers for his defense.
“Mr. Weinstein steadfastly maintains his innocence in this matter, and we are looking forward to assisting Mr. Weinstein in his defense," Baez said.
Weinstein, 66, and prominent New York defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman agreed to "part ways amicably," the two said in a joint statement last week.
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Weinstein is scheduled to go to trial in May to face allegations that he forcibly performed oral sex on a production assistant in 2006 and raped a longtime lover in a Manhattan hotel in 2013. He faces five felony charges: two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree and one count each of first-degree rape and third-degree rape. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty.
Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in July 2011. The case made international headlines, with Baez at the center of Anthony's defense.
Baez also represented former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, who committed suicide days after a jury acquitted him of double murder.
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