Sam Amico
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More than 20 women have accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions, and there was a time when 18 of those cases were on the brink of being legally settled.
Not anymore.
In fact, none of them are, not after Watson was cleared of criminal charges by a grand jury earlier this year. Still, Watson still faces multiple civil suits, not to mention potential punishment from the NFL.
No matter, attorney Rusty Hardin told Cleveland.com that “no settlement talks are in the offing” in relations to the civil suits.
After meeting with NFL investigators last week, Watson and the Browns may not learn his fate for the 2022 season until the end of June, or even early July. Recent speculation has indicated he could be suspended for the entire season. Others suspect he’ll miss only a handful of games.
Both the NFL and the Browns are in a bit of pickle here, as the league will want to try to win in the court of public opinion. But there doesn’t seem to be much winning in this case. Instead, it’s more like degrees of losing.
“My approach all along was that we were not going to win the battle of public opinion,’’ Hardin told Cleveland.com. “And my goal has always been to have these cases examined by law enforcement and I strongly believed that trained investigators would ultimately conclude that there was nothing to them from a criminal standpoint and that’s where my focus has always been.
“I thought that’s what the NFL teams cared most about and with the exception of Miami, that’s true.”
Can’t wait to see the publics reaction when they start telling there story and see how fast he wishes he settled after the public out cry.
I think this is starting to look more like a hit job.
I know there has been a chanting for Watson’s head on a pike by many in the OKTC audience, but you must consider that throughout all the hype and public allegations by these women’s attorney…every time it’s gotten in front of a court it’s gotten absolutely nowhere on the actual facts and merits. It’s been thrown out every single time. That’s fairly important to consider, especially with 20 people accusing a guy and not one has been found to have enough legitimate evidence of anything to even have a case to make it to trial. If they haven’t built a case on corroborated facts any better than this, I don’t think they have a civil case either. “IF” that’s how this plays out, and it’s certainly trending that way, I think Watson will have to be owed a massive apology by a LOT of people who will have publicly trashed his character based on a bunch of clearly unfounded accusations by a bus load of liars clearly trying to extort him for money. That’s a harsh but true reality slowly developing here we should soberly consider.
If true why ain’t there a counter suit and lawsuit against the lawyer who has publicly trashed him?
Good point. There’s still a long way to go. Maybe something comes out in a couple of these civil cases. We’ll wait and see. It’s apparently going to be a while now.
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