WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for the finale of American Sports Story.
FX’s series finale American sports history portrayed real-life celebrity lawyer Jose Baez representing convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez. From the first two episodes of American sports historyAaron Hernandez’s life and NFL career were heading toward a tragic and frightening endpoint that resulted in the former New England Patriot and star tight end receiving a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Starting with his emergence as an offensive weapon on Urban Meyer’s legendary but controversial Florida Gators team and receiving the coveted John Mackey Award, BUTT episode 10 ends with Hernandez behind bars in a federal prison.
Baez, played by actor José Pablo Cantillo, is featured in the American sports history finale titled “Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?”. Baez offers a previously nonexistent glimmer of hope for Hernandez as he faces two additional murder charges in a 2012 double homicide that occurred in Boston. Hernandez was already facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for Lloyd’s murder. However, Baez’s interest in representing him was the first sign that Hernandez could appeal his murder conviction and potentially be released from prison. Despite this opportunity, Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell in 2017.
Jose Baez was Aaron Hernandez’s lawyer in the Boston double homicide trial
Baez managed to discredit the prosecution’s star witness before the jury
Jose Baez is often referred to as a celebrity lawyer due to his track record representing famous and high-profile clients. He is best known for successfully defending Casey Anthony during his 2011 murder trial, which resulted in a not guilty verdict in the 2008 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Baez did not represent Hernandez during his murder trial for the death of Odin Lloyd. Squire wrote about Baez in 2017, “He seems to be attracted to a specific kind of American villain: defendants who reinforce our own sense of justice, people whose money, appearance or alleged crimes make them, to many, intensely hateable..”
During Hernandez’s second murder trial for the 2012 deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, Baez managed to turn the prosecution’s star witness, Alexander “Sherrod” Bradley, against them. Baez showed the jury an incriminating text message sent by Bradley to your lawyer. This strongly suggested that Sherrod was being dishonest about Aaron allegedly shooting him in the face to silence him about the double homicide. Bradley asked his lawyer to assure him that he would not be charged with perjury if he revealed that he did not remember who shot him after the trial. This is the main reason why Hernandez was acquitted.
Jose Baez was Casey Anthony’s lawyer before working with Aaron Hernandez
Baez gained international fame with this case
Baez had only been practicing law for three years when he met Casey Anthony. He gained international prominence defending Anthony between 2008 and 2011. Anthony was accused of child neglect, making false statements to police, obstructing a police investigation, and first-degree murder of his young daughter. The trial, which began in March 2011, ended with the jury finding Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was convicted of four misdemeanor counts of lying to police and was sentenced to four years in prison, which she had already served while awaiting trial.
Baez initially raised eyebrows during the trial with an unexpected opening statement this revealed that Anthony was lying about Caylee’s death. According to ABC News“Baez surprised the court by arguing in his opening statements that his client lied the entire time about Caylee being kidnapped by a babysitter and announced that the child had drowned in the family’s pool on June 16, 2008..” Baez claimed that Anthony lied because of a “Bizarre coping mechanism she developed after years of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her father.” Baez also introduced the theory that Anthony’s father, George, buried Caylee’s body.
Jose Baez helped Aaron Hernandez’s family sue the NFL and New England Patriots
The lawsuit alleged that the NFL did nothing to prevent Hernandez’s head injuries
After representing Anthony and Hernandez, Beaz continued to work as a defense attorney in Orlando, Florida, where he was CEO of his own law firm. He was determined to help Hernandez appeal his murder conviction until Hernandez was found dead in April 2017. A few months after Hernandez’s death, Baez filed a lawsuit on behalf of Shayanna Jenkins and her daughter Avielle against the NFL and the New England Patriots seeking damages. The lawsuit alleged that the NFL and New England Patriots were aware of Hernandez’s head trauma that led to his stage 3 CTE diagnosis and did nothing about it.
Baez dropped out and re-filed the lawsuit against the NFL and Patriots in October 2017, placing new blame on Riddell, the company that makes helmets for the NFL (through Live dough). According to InquisitorBaez stated that Hernandez, “had a serious brain disease. We need more awareness about this, or we will see more suicides.” There have been no recent reports on the status of this process. However, both the NFL and Riddell stated that they would fight it vigorously. A judge also ruled that Shayanna and her daughter “missed the 2014 deadline to opt out of the league’s concussion settlement and cannot separately pursue a $20 million lawsuit because of his diagnosis of a degenerative brain disease” (through Chicago Tribune).
Jose Baez Represented Harvey Weinstein and More After Aaron Hernandez
Baez also represented a hedge fund manager and a doctor accused of murdering patients
Baez also defended infamous Hollywood executive and former Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein sought out Baez’s lawyer in 2019 after he was arrested and accused of rape and other sexual crimes. Baez and his associates Ronald Sullivan and Duncan Levin served on Weinstein’s defense team until late 2019. Weinstein was convicted of three of seven charges, including rape, in 2020. Baez does not represent Weinstein over his new sexual assault accusation in 2024.
Baez represented Mark Nordlicht, the CIO of Platinum Partners, a billion-dollar hedge fund, in 2019. Nordlicht faced charges of securities fraud, investment adviser fraud and multiple conspiracy charges. The United States government accused Nordlicht of participating in a large-scale Ponzi scheme. Baez, along with his associates Sullivan and Levin, obtained acquittals on all charges for Nordlicht. However, an appeals court later reversed the acquittals and convicted Nordlicht. Baez also represented intensive care physician William Hurel, who was accused and acquitted of murdering 14 terminally ill patients. American sports history marks Baez’s first dramatic portrayal in film or television.
Sources: Esquire, ABC News, MassLive, Inquisitr, Chicago Tribune