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Sexual Assault Suits Against Watson

djohn2oo8 said:
And once again. Watson cannot pay his way out of this. He cannot pay any accuser to drop their case, because even if they wanted to drop it the state of Texas can and will still pursue it when it comes to domestic violence and sexual assault cases
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Wasn't there a post here recently about NFL player settling with an ex-girlfriend and charges being dropped? If I remember correctly it was in another state so perhaps Texas is more aggressive at pursuing these type of claims than the other state?
You are saying that Texas pursues every single charge of domestic abuse or sexual violence whether the victim wants or not? That's interesting. I knew state could but not 100 % of all claims...
 
djohn2oo8 said:
You are right. My mind is made up. So no I guess I wouldn’t make a good juror. I do know what the jury itself will listen to, and it’s not Rusty Hardin or Tony Buzbee in these press conferences
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IIRC you are not an attorney but what do you do in the field of law?
 
badboy said:
Wasn't there a post here recently about NFL player settling with an ex-girlfriend and charges being dropped? If I remember correctly it was in another state so perhaps Texas is more aggressive at pursuing these type of claims than the other state?
You are saying that Texas pursues every single charge of domestic abuse or sexual violence whether the victim wants or not? That's interesting. I knew state could but not 100 % of all claims...
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www.lisastrausslaw.com

Is It Always Possible for the Victim to Drop the Assault Charges?

If you've been charged with assault in Harris County and think the Harris County district attorney's office will drop the charges against you at the victim's request, you need to speak to a lawyer.
www.lisastrausslaw.com www.lisastrausslaw.com
 
djohn2oo8 said:
He put HIMSELF in that position. I can say that. The difference? He has a team masseuse available at his leisure. He’s a millionaire. These women don’t have nearly the money or power that he does. He sought them out.
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I guess I need to copy and paste..not what I asked.
 
badboy said:
You keep posting things that don't answer my question. My understanding is a ADA can drop a case. Please support your position that this cannot happen.
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Can the State pick up my assault charge?
Yes. Even if the “victim” does not want to prosecute, the State can, and most often will, go forward with an assault charge. In criminal cases, it’s not the injured party’s (Victim) decision as to whether a case will be prosecuted. It is the State of Texas versus the defendant. Can assault charges be dropped by the State? Yes. But the prosecutor doesn’t dismiss assault cases just because the Victim asks. Prosecutors will even go forward with the assault case without the victim’s cooperation. This means you cannot sit back, hoping the charge will be dismissed, because you “know” the victim is not going to testify or show up.
 
djohn2oo8 said:
No sir. Other women have gone to HPD who have not filed a lawsuit. They have nothing to do with Buzbee. So even if he were to settle he is still ask risk to be charged
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Only for those claims though, correct ? The civil claims Buzzbee reps could in fact be possibly resolved if DW offered 🤔 say ten million each..possibly?
 
badboy said:
Wasn't there a post here recently about NFL player settling with an ex-girlfriend and charges being dropped? If I remember correctly it was in another state so perhaps Texas is more aggressive at pursuing these type of claims than the other state?
You are saying that Texas pursues every single charge of domestic abuse or sexual violence whether the victim wants or not? That's interesting. I knew state could but not 100 % of all claims...
Click to expand...

Earl34 said:
Besides being a fan of Perry Mason and Law and Order, I'm not qualified to speak on legal issues. However, doesn't a grand jury indictment mean there is "probable" cause to proceed with a criminal case? Wasn't Ray Rice indicted and his fiancée refused to testify and no criminal case? How about Greg Hardy's getting charges dismissed because his girlfriend did not show up for court?

If Watson settles the civil cases, in Texas, can his accusers refuse to testify in any criminal proceedings? Is that Hardin's strategy? Can a real lawyer answer these questions?
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Yes. I asked the question and didn't get an answer from a real lawyer.
 
djohn2oo8 said:
And once again. Watson cannot pay his way out of this. He cannot pay any accuser to drop their case, because even if they wanted to drop it the state of Texas can and will still pursue it when it comes to domestic violence and sexual assault cases
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What happened with Ben Roethlisberger? Once his “victims” start recanting, the state will let it fade away.
 
thunderkyss said:
What happened with Ben Roethlisberger? Once his “victims” start recanting, the state will let it fade away.
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He was never charged. In Texas once you go to the police and make an allegation, even if you recant the state can still pursue charges. If the grand jury indicts Watson, the meat of those allegations will become public in such an indictment. Ben settled out of court. Watson’s current fate is in the hands of a GJ. Whether or not he gets convicted no one knows. But this has gone on further than it did for Roethlisberger in the criminal aspect.
 
badboy said:
Thanks for what you do! I would appreciate if you could give me a brief synopsis of exactly what that means. I have heard of the oig but don't really understand it.
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Maybe a PM would be more appropriate if he wishes to go beyond anonymity
 
Earl34 said:
Yes. I asked the question and didn't get an answer from a real lawyer.
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It depends on the strength of the case, minus the “victims” testimony.

in some of the Watson cases, there are third parties who had conversations with the alleged “victim” that makes a solid case on their own as these were conversations very near to the date of the incident & these people have nothing to gain. Read the SI article again.

If I were on a jury & I heard these testimonies I’m leaning toward guilty.

however, there’s no reason to believe the DA would have affidavits or depositions to present these conversations to a grand jury.

So I’m very curious what they do have apart from the alleged victims testimony.
 
Appreciate the difference how the 2 leagues handle these issues.

split-watson-bauer-FIX.jpg



DefectorMedia: The Deshaun Watson And Trevor Bauer Cases Remind Us That Sports Leagues Still Love Their Kangaroo Courts
Diana Moskovitz
For the first time since an April press conference, two of the women suing Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson for sexual misconduct spoke about what has happened to them since coming forward. Watson is currently being sued in Texas civil court by 22 women who all say that he contacted them for a professional massage but, during the appointment, tried to and in some cases did touch them with his penis. (Watson is fighting the lawsuits.) Just two of the women have spoken publicly so far, Ashley Solis and Lauren Baxley, which is no surprise given the consequences they describe. In their interview with Sports Illustrated’s Jenny Vrentas, both women talked about the threats they have received, the way they’ve worried about their physical safety, and how the case has hurt their businesses and income. They also went into detail about their interactions with the NFL’s investigators, about whom they had very little, if anything, good to say.

Three days after the SI story was published, a woman began her testimony in a Los Angeles courtroom against Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer. She is testifying in hopes of keeping and extending the restraining order she has against the MLB star, whom she said physically assaulted her twice. Unlike Watson, who until recently kept showing up to Texans practice, Bauer isn’t playing baseball right now because he’s been placed on administrative leave. (Bauer has claimed what happened was consensual rough sex.)

Watson’s presence at Texans camp meant reporters were asking what the NFL is doing about his case, and the answers, as provided by Solis and Baxley, are pretty poor. Solis told Vrentas that an NFL investigator asked her what she was wearing at the time she met with Watson and tried to justify the question—one with a long history of use to assert that women set themselves up to be assaulted—by saying it was something she had to ask. As Solis told SI: “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be wearing that would suggest that I don’t want you to put your penis on my hand. Do I need to wear a turtleneck?”

Baxley spoke to Vrentas separately, but had the same concerns after her own NFL interview. She too said she was asked during her interview with NFL investigators Lisa Friel and Jennifer Gaffney what she was wearing during her appointment with Watson. She said the interviewers questioned her behavior and her choices, including asking why she didn’t immediately stop the rest of the session with Watson when he crossed professional boundaries. Baxley went so far as to say her interview with Houston police went better than the one with the NFL’s people, who seemed as though they were, as Baxley put it, “trying to trip me up. They didn’t, but they were really looking for the weaknesses that they thought they could exploit.”

The entire ordeal left Solis feeling “worried my words were going to be used against me.”

An anonymous NFL source did its best to excuse the conduct by suggesting to SI that league investigators cannot practice trauma-informed interviewing techniques because they don’t have subpoena powers, like an officer of the court or law enforcement, and they expect to only get one chance to interview a person. This is false. Plenty of professionals—including journalists—lack subpoena powers. Like an NFL investigator, I often talk to people knowing it might be my only opportunity at an interview with them. Yet this does not stop me or my fellow reporters from using trauma-informed interviewing techniques, nor is it allowed as an excuse when we treat people poorly. Even outside of interviewing people who are traumatized, interrupting people during an interview is just plain rude. Anyone who has done any level of interviewing, be it as a journalist or a member of any other field, knows the power of holding silence.

When SI published the story, these details were met with shock and outrage. But they also aren’t an isolated incident in the history of NFL investigations, or even professional sports league investigations. Instead, they belong now to the lengthy history of endeavors by the NFL, as well as other sports leagues, that seem to serve one purpose: Figuring out the right level of suspension that will get them the best public relations relative to the player’s level of skill and fame.

There are plenty of examples of this. There was the NFL’s investigation of Greg Hardy, in which a lawyer for Hardy was allowed to use the sex of lives of women to attack their credibility without significant pushback. When the Athletic’s Lindsay Jones looked back at at five years of NFL player suspensions for intimate-partner violence and sexual assault, she found, to the shock of nobody who has followed this issue closely, the league was “inconsistent” in how it applied policies. Jones concluded that the NFL gave shorter suspensions to star players who cooperated with the league’s investigations.

“I just think that that’s the one thing that’s always going to be true here—you can make all of these policies and talk about how much you care about women and how much you abhor violence against women and all of these education programs and training programs and hiring people … bottom line is that if you are a good player and if a coach on a team believes that you can help them win, they will forgive just about anything,” Jones said on the Burn It All Down podcast.

You can find a similar dynamic in baseball, which suspended the very successful closer Aroldis Chapman for 30 games, then-Atlanta outfielder Héctor Olivera for 82 games, and free-agent reliever Sam Dyson, a player you likely haven’t heard of, for an entire season. Sheryl Ring’s analysis of baseball’s suspensions found, like with the NFL, that the league didn’t seem to be doing anything to deter intimate-partner violence. It also seemed to disproportionally lead to the suspensions of players of color. (There have been three suspensions for intimate-partner violence in the NBA since 2014, according to one list, which should not be taken as a sign that the league has greater moral standing; it’s just as easily explained by the sport having the smallest rosters in professional North American sports.)

As testimony will continue in the Bauer case, it’s worth remembering why he got placed on administrative leave. It was not, directly, due to the violence he was accused of. It was because the Dodgers were embarrassing themselves by refusing to bench Bauer, even though teams bench players all the time for all sorts of reasons. The maneuvering worked. The yelling stopped.

Ultimately, that’s what these leagues, with their shadow judiciaries, kangaroo courts, infuriating interviews, inconsistent penalties, and almost-impossible-to-decipher conduct policies are really about. They are not about making players better people. They are not about stopping violence. They are not about making anyone who has been harmed feel safer. You and I already know where the Bauer and Watson investigations by these various leagues will end: Their respective commissioners will each suspend them the amount of games that they believe will make enough people happy and earn some positive headlines. And, if Watson and Bauer still have enough talent in the tank (and these two players surely will), a team will likely give them jobs once their suspensions are over. That’s about it. What will have mattered most, what all this sound and fury was moving toward, was making sure the brand was protected. That’s all this has ever been about.
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Then read the comments to the above, and you will quickly realize why women commonly willl not pursue such cases in court.:

Sacharissa Cripslock GNU
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part of my job is counseling victims of sexual assault. i've been doing this, in one form or another, for about 2 decades. invariably, women ask me if i would pursue a criminal charge. when i first started out, i tried to kind of evade the question. i said things about coming forward being brave and necessary. that didn't last long. i defy anyone to look in the eyes of a woman who is saying she's lost, in pain ad scared, as she looks to you for help and not be honest.

so now, without hesitation, my reply is "no. no, absolutely not. there's not a chance i'd pursue either a criminal or a even civil complaint." i tell them that, in the very, very, very, VERY rare case a criminal conviction is secured, the 'punishment' is usually no more than a slap on the wrist and, even when it's more severe, i've never seen a woman find that magic 'closure'. then i rattle off a list (which is depressingly, consistently growing by leaps and bounds) of high profile cases where the perpetrators walked clean away or got essentially no punishment. then i rattle off the statistics in our state and nationally around charges vs convictions. then i explain, in detail, what our "justice system" will make them endure to get anywhere at all.

i tell them to take the emotional upheaval of reviewing their trauma, the time and cost in real dollars a criminal complaint would involve and get a good therapist. i tell them to get a good support system to start the healing. and the best support system is FAR, FAR AWAY from our "justice system".

eta: to the few people in the cosby article comments who made reference to others 'gnashing their teeth' and 'complaining' about the cosby decision. this is why people are so whiny about it, you
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brighter
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I regret having pursued a case against my assailant. It was an awful experience. I would never recommend anyone do so.
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SnakeEyes said:
More on the FBI getting involved according to Hardin

www.espn.com

FBI joins investigation into Watson allegations

The FBI is investigating the allegations of sexual assault against Deshaun Watson, who spoke to the bureau about allegations of extortion regarding one of the lawsuits filed against the Texans quarterback, his lawyer says.
www.espn.com
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Another example of Hardin pre-emptively putting out negative information on his client before "the opposition" puts it out in much greater fanfare.
 
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steelbtexan said:
Exactly what has Buzbee done that's unethical?
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This is what I replied to:

Mr teX said:
no backlash against Buzzbee for his tactics and largely unethical ways he’s chosen to throw **** against the wall he himself knows is largely fluff.

he is an attention whore plain & simple…b/c you’re an absolute fool if you believe all of his Twitter fingers and big bluster is being done purely for his clients.
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djohn2oo8 said:
Yet he still wins his cases. A lot.
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Djohn seems to not disagree that some of Buzzbees actions seem unethical.
 
SnakeEyes said:
More on the FBI getting involved according to Hardin

www.espn.com

FBI joins investigation into Watson allegations

The FBI is investigating the allegations of sexual assault against Deshaun Watson, who spoke to the bureau about allegations of extortion regarding one of the lawsuits filed against the Texans quarterback, his lawyer says.
www.espn.com
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Lol, is Hardin standing in front of a picture of a sinking ship?
 
badboy said:
This is what I replied to:



Djohn seems to not disagree that some of Buzzbees actions seem unethical.
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I didn't ask DJohn for his opinion.

I will ask you again, what's Buzbee done that's unethical in his representation of these clients?
 
The attorney for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says that Watson has spoken to the FBI about an investigation into whether at least one of the women accusing him of sexual assault has committed extortion, but Watson has not yet participated into the NFL’s investigation of the accusations against him.

Lawyer Rusty Hardin said at a press conference today that he encouraged Watson to cooperate with the FBI because he’s confident that Watson was the victim of extortion, not the perpetrator of a crime. The lawyer representing the women accusing Watson, Tony Buzbee, revealed this week that the FBI is looking into the matter.
***
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Lawyer says Deshaun Watson has talked to the FBI, but not the NFL - ProFootballTalk

The attorney for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says that Watson has spoken to the FBI about an investigation into whether at least one of the women accusing him of sexual assault has committed extortion, but Watson has not yet participated into the NFL’s investigation of the accusations...
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
***
OK somebody has probably already posted Florios latest comments on the Watson situation so my apologies if this is a repeat.
I also watched the video of these comments by Florio, a lawyer himself, who's genuinely curious about why the plaintiffs lawyer, and not the defendants lawyer is unwilling to agree to full disclosure of the terms of any settlements FWIW ?
 
IDEXAN said:
The attorney for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says that Watson has spoken to the FBI about an investigation into whether at least one of the women accusing him of sexual assault has committed extortion, but Watson has not yet participated into the NFL’s investigation of the accusations against him.

Lawyer Rusty Hardin said at a press conference today that he encouraged Watson to cooperate with the FBI because he’s confident that Watson was the victim of extortion, not the perpetrator of a crime. The lawyer representing the women accusing Watson, Tony Buzbee, revealed this week that the FBI is looking into the matter.
***
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Lawyer says Deshaun Watson has talked to the FBI, but not the NFL - ProFootballTalk

The attorney for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says that Watson has spoken to the FBI about an investigation into whether at least one of the women accusing him of sexual assault has committed extortion, but Watson has not yet participated into the NFL’s investigation of the accusations...
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
***
OK somebody has probably already posted Florios latest comments on the Watson situation so my apologies if this is a repeat.
I also watched the video of these comments by Florio, a lawyer himself, who's genuinely curious about why the plaintiffs lawyer, and not the defendants lawyer is unwilling to agree to full disclosure of the terms of any settlements FWIW ?
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Have spoken to several attorneys who state that in this case, releasing terms of the settlements would make the victims in this type of case even greater targets than they are now.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Have spoken to several attorneys who state that in this case, releasing terms of the settlements would make the victims in this type of case even greater targets than they are now.
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OK and this explanation wouldn't occur to Florio because he's a dim-witted lawyer, or because he's carrying water for the NFL and/or NFLPA ?
 
IDEXAN said:
The attorney for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says that Watson has spoken to the FBI about an investigation into whether at least one of the women accusing him of sexual assault has committed extortion, but Watson has not yet participated into the NFL’s investigation of the accusations against him.

Lawyer Rusty Hardin said at a press conference today that he encouraged Watson to cooperate with the FBI because he’s confident that Watson was the victim of extortion, not the perpetrator of a crime. The lawyer representing the women accusing Watson, Tony Buzbee, revealed this week that the FBI is looking into the matter.
***
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Lawyer says Deshaun Watson has talked to the FBI, but not the NFL - ProFootballTalk

The attorney for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says that Watson has spoken to the FBI about an investigation into whether at least one of the women accusing him of sexual assault has committed extortion, but Watson has not yet participated into the NFL’s investigation of the accusations...
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
***
OK somebody has probably already posted Florios latest comments on the Watson situation so my apologies if this is a repeat.
I also watched the video of these comments by Florio, a lawyer himself, who's genuinely curious about why the plaintiffs lawyer, and not the defendants lawyer is unwilling to agree to full disclosure of the terms of any settlements FWIW ?
Click to expand...

I'm sure the Texans will win the SB if other teams will cooperate.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Have spoken to several attorneys who state that in this case, releasing terms of the settlements would make the victims in this type of case even greater targets than they are now.
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This is exactly why Hardin wants the terms of the settlements (If there are any) released. Hardin wants to make these women's life he**
 
IDEXAN said:
OK and this explanation wouldn't occur to Florio because he's a dim-witted lawyer, or because he's carrying water for the NFL and/or NFLPA ?
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Yes, Florio works for NBC and the NFL has a lot of sway with what the NFL reports and how they report things.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Another example of Hardin pre-emptively putting out negative information on his client before "the opposition" puts it out in much greater fanfare.
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True. And if you want to talk "extortion" as Hardin claims. Via threats about exposing Watson if he didn't pay. Well, it is also extortion, blackmail (perhaps) to tell a woman "Say anything about this and I will make sure you never get a job in the massage therapist field again". According to reports, at least a few said he made remarks similar to what I just used above as an example.

So, if Hardin did indeed go to the FBI or they came to him as claimed. I find it very stupid to think that Watson is not going to have any "extortion/threat/blackmail" type conversations (via texts and DM messages) found that he can be changed with. It's not a "terroristic threat" I don't think. But it is still some bad stuff. A VERY rookie move by Hardin in a case that has so much "if you talk I will go public and _________ you!" On both sides.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1428366158172856333
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CloakNNNdagger said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1428369009041313803
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CloakNNNdagger said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1428376405532975115
Impressive workout.
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I don’t understand why the Texans are playing these bullshit games with him. Why are they letting him use their facilities when he has no intention of playing for them?

Get him with the team, tell him he’s starting, let him pull his phony injury, suspend him and file your grievance. Enough of this Watson is at practice bullshit already.
 
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