HOUSTON – Houston Attorney Tony Buzbee said in a statement Tuesday night that his law firm will amend all 22 lawsuits against Deshaun Watson to reveal the names of the plaintiffs, the object of any court order ”.
The lawsuits, originally filed on behalf of Jane Does between March 16 and April 2, allege inappropriate behavior and sexual assault against the Houston Texans quarterback.
On Friday, two judges ruled that the majority of the plaintiffs acting on Watson must identify themselves. Judgments in two hearings on Friday covered 13 of the 22 lawsuits filed against Watson, while lawyers agreed to release a 14th name later that day. By Friday, only two women had been publicly identified.
Another emergency hearing to determine whether the remaining lawsuits should be amended had been scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT in district court 113. This hearing was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, before Buzbee sent his statement saying the law firm will change all petitions.
As of Tuesday night, 11 lawsuits have been amended and made available on the Harris County Clerk’s website.
In his statement, Buzbee stated that his law firm “has previously tried to make available to the defense lawyer the names of the plaintiffs who sued Deshaun Watson and intends to do so in a timely manner”.
“We were concerned about the safety of these applicants and asked the Watson team to accept a protection order in which identities could be used in litigation but not disseminated to the world,” Buzbee said.
In a statement last week, Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said when his law firm asked Buzbee “to identify his clients a few weeks ago, he refused and told us to file a motion.” ”.
“While I understand that anonymity is often used as a shield for victims, Mr. Buzbee uses it like a sword,” Hardin said in a statement Thursday. “While protecting his clients from public scrutiny, Mr Buzbee continues to use their anonymous allegations to destroy Mr Watson. It is simply not fair. And we look forward to resolving these issues in court.”
Hardin admitted at a news conference on Friday that there had been some “consensual meetings” between Watson and some of the 22 women who sued him, but he said no Watson had ever been involved in the proceedings. which were not “mutually desired”. “
“Were there consensual meetings sometimes? Yes,” Hardin said.
When asked to clarify his comments about Watson’s involvement in sexual intercourse with some of the women who sued him, Hardin replied: “There will be no question in some of these massages. I never ran away from that. “
In his statement Tuesday, Buzbee said that while Watson “may now claim to have consented to do what he did” to these women, “he did not have consent in their minds.”