WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for American Sports Story’s finale.

The series finale of FX’s American Sports Story portrayed real-life celebrity attorney Jose Baez representing convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez. From the first two episodes of American Sports Story, the life and NFL career of Aaron Hernandez were headed toward a tragic and frightening endpoint that resulted in the former New England Patriot and star tight end receiving a lifetime prison sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Starting with his emergence as an offensive weapon on Urban Meyer’s legendary yet controversial Florida Gators team and receiving the coveted John Mackey Award, ASS episode 10 ends with Hernandez behind bars in federal prison.

Baez, played by actor Jose Pablo Cantillo, is introduced in the American Sports Story finale titled “Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?”. Baez offers a previously nonexistent glimpse of hope for Hernandez as he faces two additional murder charges from a 2012 double homicide that occurred in Boston. Hernandez was already facing a lifetime prison sentence without the possibility of parole for killing Lloyd. However, Baez’s interest in representing him was the first sign that Hernandez could appeal his murder conviction and potentially be freed from prison. Despite this stroke of opportunity, Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell in 2017.

Jose Baez Was Aaron Hernandez’s Lawyer For The Boston Double Homicide Trial

Baez was able to discredit the prosecution’s star witness to the jury

Jose Baez is often referred to as a celebrity attorney due to his track record of representing high-profile and famous clients. He is best known for successfully defending Casey Anthony during her murder trial in 2011, which resulted in a not guilty verdict for the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Baez did not represent Hernandez during his murder trial for the death of Odin Lloyd. Esquire wrote of Baez in 2017, “He seems to be attracted to a specific strain of American villain: defendants who reinforce our own sense of righteousness, people whose money or looks or alleged crimes make them, for many, intensely hateable.”

During Hernandez’s second murder trial for the 2012 deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, Baez was able to turn the prosecution’s star witness, Alexander “Sherrod” Bradley, against them. Baez showed the jury an incriminating text message sent by Bradley to his attorney. It heavily suggested Sherrod was being dishonest about Aaron allegedly shooting him in the face to silence him about the double homicide. Bradley asked his attorney 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 from this case

Baez had only been practicing law for three years when he first met Casey Anthony. He gained an international spotlight by defending Anthony between 2008 and 2011. Anthony was charged with child neglect, making false statements to police, obstructing a police investigation, and first-degree murder of her infant 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 the police and was sentenced to four years in prison, which she had already served awaiting trial.

Baez had initially raised eyebrows during the trial with an unexpected opening statement that revealed Anthony had been lying about Caylee’s death. According to ABC News, “Baez stunned the courtroom by arguing in his opening statements that his client had lied all along about Caylee being kidnapped by a nanny, and announced that the toddler had drowned in the family pool on June 16, 2008.” Baez claimed that Anthony lied because of a “bizarre coping mechanism she developed from 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 & New England Patriots

The lawsuit alleged that the NFL did nothing to prevent Hernandez’s head injuries

After he represented Anthony and Hernandez, Beaz continued to work as a defense attorney in Orlando, Florida, where he was the CEO of his own law firm. He was determined to help Hernandez appeal his murder conviction until Hernandez was found dead in April 2017. Just 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 the New England Patriots were aware of Hernandez’s head trauma which led to his stage 3 CTE diagnosis and did nothing about it.

Baez dropped and refiled the lawsuit against the NFL and the Patriots in October 2017, placing new blame on Riddell, the company that manufactures the helmets for the NFL (via MassLive). According to Inquisitr, Baez stated that Hernandez, “had a serious brain disease. We need more awareness of it, or we’re going to see more suicides.” There has been no recent reporting on the status of this lawsuit. However, both the NFL and Riddell stated they would vigorously fight it. A judge also ruled that Shayanna and her daughter “missed a 2014 deadline to opt out of the league’s concussion settlement and can’t separately pursue a $20 million suit over his diagnosis of a degenerative brain disease” (via Chicago Tribune).

Jose Baez Represented Harvey Weinstein & More After Aaron Hernandez

Baez also represented a hedge fund manager and a physician accused of murdering patients

Baez has also defended the infamous Hollywood executive and former co-founder of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein sought out Baez’s counsel in 2019 after he had been arrested and charged with 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 counts, including rape, in 2020. Baez is not representing Weinstein over his new 2024 sexual assault charge.

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 counts of conspiracy. The United States government accused Nordlicht of participating in a large-scale Ponzi scheme. Baez, along with his associates Sullivan and Levin, won acquittals on all counts for Nordlicht. However, an appeals court later reversed the acquittals and convicted Nordlicht. Baez also represented intensive care physician William Hurel, who was charged and acquitted of murdering 14 terminally ill patients. American Sports Story marks Baez’s first-ever dramatic portrayal in film or television.

Sources: Esquire, ABC News, MassLive, Inquisitr, Chicago Tribune

American Sports Story is a TV show from Stu Zicherman and executive produced by Ryan Murphy. The series stars Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow. The sports anthology series serves as the fourth installment in Murphy’s “American Story” franchise.

Cast

Josh Andrés Rivera , Patrick Schwarzenegger

Character(s)

Shaneah Jenkins , Shayanna Jenkins , Aaron Hernandez , Tanya Singleton , Terri Hernandez , ‘Chris’ , Dennis Hernandez , Urban Meyer , Tim Tebow , Carlos ‘Charlie Boy’ Ortiz , Alexander Sherrod , Ernest ‘Bo’ Wallace , Steve Addazio , Dennis Sansoucie , Jeff Cummings , Sports Reporter , Mr. Marzigalli , Coach Morgan , Uncle Bobby , DJ Hernandez (Age 4) , Emcee , Basketball Player , Trainer , Principal Seligman , Pastor

Release Date

September 17, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Ryan Farley , Liz Tuccillo , Tracey Scott Wilson

Directors

Paris Barclay , Carl Franklin

Producers

Brad Simpson , Scott Robertson , Nellie Reed , Lee Edward Colston , Todd Nenninger , Tanase Popa , Hernan Lopez , Eric Kovtun , Hadi Nicholas Deeb , Gail Barringer , Ira Napoliello , Matthew Hodgson , Carl Franklin , Sara Stelwagen , Nina Jacobson , Marshall Lewy , David Woods , Alexis Martin Woodall , Tyson Bidner , Stuart Zicherman , Ryan Murphy , Monica Levinson , Lou Eyrich

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