Editors’ note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org.
Tony Buzbee, who represents the plaintiffs of the 24 active civil lawsuits filed against Deshaun Watson, released a statement on Instagram Tuesday following a New York Times’ report on Tuesday.
The investigation found that the quarterback’s lawyer and the prosecutors at the district attorney’s office on the QB’s criminal cases had extensive contact leading up to the two grand juries. According to the Times’ Jenny Vrentas, Rusty Hardin “began a regular dialogue” with the Harris County sex crimes prosecutor Johna Stallings in early 2022.
The two reportedly met at Hardin’s office, exchanged more than two dozen text messages and spoke on the phone 12 times in the two months leading up to the grand jury hearings, per public records obtained by The Times.
Hardin said in a statement to The Times that this was “a standard practice.” However, Buzbee said while he also contacted the DA’s office, the office ”wouldn’t even talk to us!”
Stallings and Hardin reportedly “exchanged more than a dozen calls and messages” the week of the Harris County grand jury hearing in March. Watson’s lawyer reportedly “created a slide presentation arguing for Watson’s innocence and gave it to Stallings along with other documents he deemed important” instead of putting the quarterback in front of the jury.
“I had no idea that the assistant district attorney was regularly corresponding with Deshaun Watson’s lawyer by email and text; I didn’t know that the assistant district attorney actually went to Hardin’s office to discuss the cases; I didn’t know that Watson’s lawyer provided a PowerPoint that was to be used before the grand jury,” Buzbee said in a statement. “I didn’t know, but now know after speaking to the investigating officer under oath, that the police investigation team was convinced that Watson had committed more than ten sexual crimes, or that the ADA has prevented the investigating officers from talking to the women who had filed lawsuits but had not filed criminal complaints.
“And what I do know is that, of the multiple criminal complainants in Houston, only one was asked by the ADA to appear in front of the grand jury, even though other victims were standing by to do so. As a taxpayer, and more importantly as the advocate for these women, I feel ‘home towned’ in my own home town, and duped. I think the public and all interested were duped as well. Makes you wonder. … Thank God for the civil justice system.”
The jury eventually returned nine “no” decisions on nine criminal complaints against Watson. A Harris County prosecutor said that the decision concluded criminal proceedings against him in that county, and Watson was traded shortly afterward. Then, a grand jury in Brazoria County declined to charge Watson on a 10th count on March 24.
There are two dozen active civil lawsuits filed against Watson, each detailing graphic accounts of sexual harassment and sexual assault that occurred during massage therapy sessions. The accounts range from Watson allegedly refusing to cover his genitals to the quarterback “touching [a plaintiff] with his penis and trying to force her to perform oral sex on him.” The latest detailed that Watson masturbated and ejaculated on the plaintiff without her consent.
The Times’ investigation also found that Watson booked sessions with at least 66 different women for massage therapy sessions in the span of 17 months. Additionally, Vrentas revealed that a Houston-based spa and the Texans reportedly “enabled” Watson’s massage habit, specifically that the franchise provided nondisclosure agreements and facilities for his sessions.
The 23rd active petition filed early last week not only detailed sexual misconduct but also asserted that A New U Salon Spa “provided” women for Watson. “Dionne Louis, the owner of the spa, facilitated massages for Watson and knew Watson was attempting to have sex with them,” it says. According to Cash App receipts and text messages included in the petition documents, “Watson paid Dionne Louis at least five thousand dollars for Louis’s ‘work.’”
One other major question remains—will Watson face a fine, a suspension or nothing after the league’s investigation? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently said that the league is “nearing the end of the investigation,” but no timeline was provided on when the disciplinary officer would issue a ruling. It turns out, though, that there is a key date that could play a role in when the decision will come—June 30.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, this is the deadline for pretrial discovery in the 24 active civil lawsuits the quarterback is facing. Breer wrote that “in the 2020 CBA, the NFL ceded the initial decision-making on discipline to a neutral arbitrator. And if you’re thinking like an ex-U.S. district court judge would, it stands to reason that you’d want as much information as possible before rendering a decision.” Breer’s guess is that the decision will likely come in July.
