Deshaun Watson’s attorneys supply proof to undermine lawsuit

Attorneys for Deshaun Watson filed a collection of courtroom displays Monday, which they’ve supplied as proof to undermine allegations from the most recent girl to accuse Watson of sexually assaulting her throughout a therapeutic massage session.

In her lawsuit filed earlier this month, the lady, who sued Watson underneath the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleged that Watson tried to stress her into “massaging his personal space” and having intercourse and, in the end, “was in a position to stress her into oral intercourse” throughout a December 2018 therapeutic massage on the Houstonian resort.

She alleged Watson paid her $300 for her providers, “though her regular cost was $115 for an hour therapeutic massage,” in accordance with the lawsuit.

However in accordance with the courtroom filings, the lady had her allegations “thought-about — and in the end rejected” by Houston police, who interviewed her as early as April 2021. Throughout a press release the lady made in November 2021 to a paralegal on the regulation agency of Rusty Hardin, Watson’s Houston-based lawyer, the lady stated: “I wasn’t scared, I wasn’t intimidated. I did not do something I did not need to do. I did not do something to the place I did not really feel prefer it was secure,” in accordance with the courtroom filings.

The lady’s lawsuit was the twenty sixth identified civil case filed towards Watson, accusing him of inappropriate sexual misconduct or sexual assault throughout therapeutic massage periods.

In courtroom filings Monday, attorneys for Watson submitted quite a few displays which recommend the lady was involved in a relationship with Watson.

“I’d like to be in love, and to like him…. I do not need to put felony costs on him. It wasn’t felony. We had been in there enjoying round and that was it,” the lady advised a paralegal in Hardin’s agency, in accordance with the courtroom submitting.

Monday’s courtroom filings additionally embrace a number of direct messages the lady despatched to Watson within the months after their December 2018 encounter.

“I might wish to see you once more (sic) We should always hang around,” the lady wrote to Watson 11 days after their therapeutic massage session.

“Are you able to put money into me?” the lady requested Watson in one other direct message.

A number of months later, the lady then went on to make what gave the impression to be a sexually express supply to Watson.

“This proof undeniably establishes that whereas this can be a case of unrequited love, underneath no stretch of the creativeness is that this a case of assault,” Watson’s attorneys wrote in a movement filed Monday searching for sanctions towards the plaintiff’s lawyer.

Watson is at the moment serving an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s private conduct coverage. On Aug. 18, the NFL and NFL Gamers Affiliation reached a settlement on Watson’s suspension. He was additionally fined $5 million and has needed to endure a compulsory therapy program.

On the NFL’s fall assembly in New York commissioner Roger Goodell stated he was glad Watson had adopted the phrases of his suspension settlement.

“So far as any further [allegations], we clearly will observe all of these,” Goodell stated. “If there’s new data, we’ll take that into consideration, however we’ll see as time goes on.”

Two grand juries in Texas declined to pursue felony costs towards Watson earlier this yr. Sue L. Robinson, an impartial arbiter collectively appointed by the league and gamers’ union, discovered that “the NFL carried its burden to show, by a preponderance of the proof, that Mr. Watson engaged in sexual assault.”

Robinson concluded in her report that Watson’s conduct was “egregious” and “predatory.”

Whereas just lately allowed to reenter the Browns coaching facility for the primary time since being suspended since Aug. 30 as a part of the settlement, Watson cannot observe with the crew once more till Nov. 14 and will not be eligible to play till Week 13, when the Browns journey to face his former crew, the Texans in Houston on Dec. 4.