Weinstein Hires High-Profile Lawyers to Represent Him in Assault Case

According to the Daily Beast, the team of attorneys include Pamela Robillard Mackey, Ronald Sullivan, and Jose Baez, who have represented public figures like Kobe Bryant, Aaron Hernandez, and, in Baez's case, Rose McGowan, one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexual assault. Baez also notably helped Casey Anthony get acquitted of charges that she murdered her two-year-old daughter in 2011.

The new hires come just a little more than a week since Weinstein's former lawyer Benjamin Brafman announced he was "withdrawing" from the movie mogul's case, leaving Weinstein to replace him in time for a May court date in Manhattan, where he will face five felony charges related to multiple allegations of sexual assault.

The weeks leading up to Brafman's resignation had been filled with "intense arguing" between the lawyer and his client, the New York Times reports, the apparent result of Weinstein's desire to reassert "control of his defense," though both denied any such clashes in a joint statement: “There were no arguments, only philosophical differences, and we both have immense respect for one another’s talents, and appreciate the time we worked together.”

Under Brafman's counsel, Weinstein was able to get one allegation of sexual misconduct dismissed. In October, a New York judge threw out the charges related to Lucia Evans' case against Weinstein, due to evidence provided by the Manhattan district attorney's office that suggested her 2004 encounter with Weinstein was consensual. A different judge denied Brafman's request to drop all of the other sexual misconduct charges against Weinstein last month, and set a pre-trial hearing for March 7.

"Today’s ruling was a technical ruling on the law, and although disappointed, it does not in any way suggest that the case against Mr. Weinstein is going to end badly," Brafman, told reporters at the time. "To the contrary, based on the evidence that I am aware of, I believe that if we proceed to trial, and I think we will fairly soon, I think Mr. Weinstein will be exonerated. "

As Weinstein awaits trial, he has free rein to speak out publicly against his accusers, according to a Tuesday ruling from a federal judge.

“Look, if this is a media fight, I can’t interfere with that,” Judge Alvin Hellerstein told the New York Post. Hellerstein's ruling specifically addressed the ten women who have brought a class action lawsuit against Weinstein as well as Disney, Miramax, and key employees at the Weinstein Company. They have alleged that Weinstein has been using their "private information to wage a public battle," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But despite Hellerstein's decision on this particular issue, he did allow the lawsuit to advance in court in a victory for his accusers, who are seeking damages for sexual assault, battery, and emotional distress. And the attorneys representing Weinstein's accusers at his May trial feel optimistic about their ability to build an ironclad case against him.

"Headlines suggesting that the case is crumbling are incorrect," feminist lawyer Gloria Allred told the press in December. “There’s only one person on trial here…It’s Harvey Weinstein."