Deshaun Watson accused of sexual assault in lawsuit

[Deus Irae]

That’s my point dude. It’s who they believe. Some of those women have been thrown under the bus by family members and friends. We shall see what happens. It’s 22 lawsuits but we don’t know how much evidence the prosecution has.

So your point is that you have no point. It took you until page 60 to admit that?

 

[Bill Lee]

Dude i know it’s civil but you need to prove it beyond a doubt. Not a he said she said.

No, the standard in civil court is "preponderance of the evidence" i.e. 51% is a conviction.

Not really dude. They claim 5 of them when back to working with Watson after they claim they felt uncomfortable. They have other stuff as well. Again a settlement means guilty! If i am innocent i am not settling. That’s a win for the prosecution.

Problem is, he has to go 22-0 to be cleared, even some of the claims that now look dubious still might turn into wins depending on how effective the witnesses are in court.

As things are structured now, once this gets out of pre-trial each case will have its own judge and jury.

It'll be next to impossible for him to win them all.

If Watson settles it means he’s guilty. That’s how i am gonna see it and so will the rest of the nfl world and any team would be dumb to trade for a guy like that. That’s how i see it. Idk whose telling the truth but i hope it goes all the way and no settlements.

You can't be serious. Heck, we even have had a few guys who paid women off after accusations of sexual misconduct become POTUS.

There will be more negotiations in the press as each side gets a better grasp of where things stand, and then there will be off-the-record settlements.

This will cost Watson a bunch of cash and a suspension, but in two years time more than half the league would happily trade for him. We'll hear about learning a big lesson, getting closer to Jesus, yada yada, then it will be 1:00 on Sunday and we'll hear Joe Buck mumble out a one line platitude about him overcoming his "problems", Troy Aikman will agree, and it'll be time to play football.

If you're 51% sure that the guy is guility, then you must convict him. That's precisely how civil court works.

In the end, though, this is just another leverage play. A settlement will come.

As the old saying goes, everything in life is a negotiation.

 

[PatsWSB47]

A lot of settlements basically say "we're giving this money provided you agree that we did nothing wrong and you never tell anyone what this settlement entails. If you break this we're going after you. Sign here."

 

[SHOWTIME15]

How so dude?

Settling a case does not equal an admission of guilt/liability . There could be many reasons why a defendant wants to settle, including making the case go away. We've seen many celebrities go this route

 

[Deus Irae]

... “Today we answered the lawsuits filed against our client Deshaun Watson,” Hardin said in a statement. “Mr. Watson has been adamant that he did not engage in any improper conduct and we strongly believe him. Therefore, the answer to the question of whether we are saying that all 22 plaintiffs are lying about the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Watson is a resounding yes...

Rusty Hardin: We are saying all 22 women suing Deshaun Watson are lying

 

[Ring 6]

Idk about that. His lawyer will have
witnesses against some of these women. I really don’t think he will settle.

Witnesses to what?

 

[Ring 6]

Dude i know it’s civil but you need to prove it beyond a doubt. Not a he said she said.

Beyond a doubt does not apply to civil cases. Preponderance of evidence does. Literally 51%.

 

[Ring 6]

Which is why everyone abuses the court system in this country. It’s very flawed. It doesn’t have to be 51 percent.

What?

 

[RIpats88]

So watsons argument is going to be it was consensual and they are money grubbing. I don't see this ending well.

His lawyer already admitted that he slept with some of these women

 

[Deus Irae]

On the same day that Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, took an ultra-aggressive position in officially responding to the 22 lawsuits and in making a public statement confirming that, yes, Watson and Harding believe all of the accusers are lying, Buzbee or someone connected to him leaked to Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston that at least two of the plaintiffs have agreed to meet with the NFL regarding the allegations.


Per Berman, the meetings will happen via Zoom video conference. The NFL’s top investigator in matters of this nature, Lisa Friel, has made clear her desire to speak to all accusers...

Report: At least two of the women suing Deshaun Watson have agreed to meet with the NFL

 

[XLIX]

The women? They'll settle because, unlike Watson, their attorney fees will add up and make a big difference, and they'll want to just move on from this.

I would bet my bottom dollar Buzbee is working for them on contingency. Watson is the one paying an hourly rate.

 

[Deus Irae]

During a Thursday status conference, attorney Rusty Hardin said that some of the plaintiffs have been destroying or altering evidence, via Ivory Hecker of FOX 26. Attorney Tony Buzbee denied the it’s happening, accusing Hardin of making the allegation in order to get a headline. Buzbee also accused Watson of unsending Instagram messages to his accusers.

Both sides in Deshaun Watson litigation make accusations of evidence destruction

 

[Patjew]

I like the interspersion of "dude" in this thread. I prefer it 51% over "cousins."

 

[TheRainMaker]

Are we still at 22? Imagine him settling with all of those women. Lol.

 

[Jlaff]

At this point if there is any bright side to 22 for Watson it's that some may be lying or exaggerating. If he can cast doubt on a handful it might hurt the cases of the rest. Maybe.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

At this point if there is any bright side to 22 for Watson it's that some may be lying or exaggerating. If he can cast doubt on a handful it might hurt the cases of the rest. Maybe.

and they all have the save lawyer, so if one is lying the question becomes, who made up the lie??

Watson has clearly gotten some happy endings, it is also troubling the amount of massage therapists he has gone through. Kraft found one that would do it and he was back the next day! Why so many? It doesn't make sense. I highly doubt all or even any of them were forced, but this is what happens when you have money. Why men of means who frequent women who do sexual favors for money, are shocked when the same women turn on them and ask for more money is a mystery to me.

 

[Deus Irae]

At this point if there is any bright side to 22 for Watson it's that some may be lying or exaggerating. If he can cast doubt on a handful it might hurt the cases of the rest. Maybe.

This isn't 22 cases being tried at the same time.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

This isn't 22 cases being tried at the same time.

I’d have to defer to someone who understands civil suits better than me.

Is there a chance the women all accept a negotiated group settlement, similar to a class action suit, since they have the same attorney?

Would Woman A also testify in Woman B’s lawsuit to establish a pattern of behavior?

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

and they all have the save lawyer, so if one is lying the question becomes, who made up the lie??

Watson has clearly gotten some happy endings, it is also troubling the amount of massage therapists he has gone through. Kraft found one that would do it and he was back the next day! Why so many? It doesn't make sense. I highly doubt all or even any of them were forced, but this is what happens when you have money. Why men of means who frequent women who do sexual favors for money, are shocked when the same women turn on them and ask for more money is a mystery to me.

I think one of the issues is the word “forced” has a different meaning if you’re a celebrity like Watson who can damage someone’s career if she doesn’t do what he wants. It’s really pretty similar to Weinstein. Forcible rape where you pin someone down is the way we typically define sexual assault/sexual misconduct, but perceived employer/career blackmail is another form of misconduct. If this happened one time, I could see a defense, but there are text messages where Watson acknowledges that his advances were unwanted and then continued stalking victims on Instagram.

 

[XLIX]

I’d have to defer to someone who understands civil suits better than me.

Is there a chance the women all accept a negotiated group settlement, similar to a class action suit, since they have the same attorney?

Would Woman A also testify in Woman B’s lawsuit to establish a pattern of behavior?

While the pre-trial motions have been consolidated for all 22 cases, my understanding is that the trials themselves will be handled one at a time (if we make it that far).

As for any potential group settlement.... well, there really are no rules for that, so it is certainly possible they negotiate some sort of group settlement.

IMHO, it would be up to the judge to determine if woman A could testify at woman B's lawsuit. He'd have to decide how relevant her testimony was.