The R. Allen Stanford case moved back into the spotlight over the weekend with the emergence of controversial Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz as part of the indicted financier’s defense team.

Bloomberg reported that Dershowitz, who was part of former pro football player O.J. Simpson’s defense team, will aid indicted financier R. Allen Stanford in his fight for pre-trial bail.

Stanford requested Dershowitz’s participation through his newly retained defense lawyers Michael Essmyer and Robert Bennett, the law professor told the news service in an interview.

“He’s presumed innocent, yet he’s being treated worse than a convicted defendant,” Dershowitz said.

He did not say if he was being paid for his engagement, which will entail only appellate work relating to the bail issue.

Stanford has been in jail since his arrest in June after a federal grand jury in Houston returned a 21-count criminal indictment on charges of leading a $7 billion investment fraud.

His appeals for bail have been repeatedly rejected by U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston, in rulings upheld on appeal.

Dershowitz, 71, has been teaching at Harvard since he was 21 and rose to fame over 30 years ago, when he assisted in the successful appeal by socialite Claus von Bulow, who was convicted of attempting to murder his wife.

“The trial is likely to last a long, long time,” Dershowitz told Bloomberg. “By the time he’s out, we’re talking about two years.”

That much time, he argued, would exceed what Congress intended when it adopted the current pretrial detention laws.

Dershowitz described Stanford’s incarceration as “very punitive,” and said that after meeting Stanford, he saw “a man who was suffering greatly.”