For the first time, ten of the woman who have accused Deshaun Watson of various crimes appeared in court. Six of the accusers opted to appear in person and four more participated via Zoom. The group of ten women has accused the Houston Texans quarterback of various crimes ranging from sexual assault to exposing himself unnecessarily.
While this was the first time that the ten women appeared in court, much of the attention centered around attorneys Rusty Hardin and Tony Buzbee. Representing two dozen women who have filed civil lawsuits against Watson, Buzbee said the woman came to court because of accusations made by Hardin. Prior to today's court hearing, Hardin had written in a legal response that some of the women suing Watson were lying and that one tried to date him after the encounter.
“They’re here because they’ve been called liars and they’re not liars,” Buzbee said.
Buzbee also accused Watson of deleting Instagram messages that he had sent some of the plaintiffs. Hardin fired back by saying that the women suing his client are altering their social media accounts.
“Deshaun Watson has unsent a lot of his direct messages on Instagram. We’ve raised that issue before, and we’ll deal with it when the time comes," Buzbee added.
As the court hearing proceeded, Hardin complained that he is at a disadvantage because he does not know the names of four of the women suing Watson. Buzbee also complained that he had to turn over the social security numbers of the accusers. This is something that he said he's never had to do before.
“I’ve never ever experienced where six weeks after the lawsuits are brought, we still don’t know who all of them are. So in that sense, it’s unusual," Hardin said.
Due to the number of disputes showcased in court this week, the judge overseeing this case has asked that the two sides reach a case management agreement by May 7.
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