After Tuesday’s news conference, Rusty Hardin, an attorney representing Watson, focused on the claims of Buzbee and Solis. Hardin issued a series of e-mails suggesting that Buzbee raised $ 100,000 on behalf of Mrs. Solis picked up to silence the allegations the month before he filed the first lawsuit. ‘According to the lawsuits, all the accused have filed claims in which they’ have to compensate minimal compensation ‘.
In one February email, Scott Gaffield, chief adviser to Athletes First, the agency representing Watson, rejected Buzbee’s claim on behalf of Solis for $ 100,000 because “we do not believe the alleged facts show that Deshaun did anything wrong. .. ‘
In addition to the 22 civil claims, the case against Watson expanded last week when the Houston Police Department admitted that he began investigating Watson after a charge was filed against him. Buzbee said Tuesday that at least one other person also filed a complaint against Watson with police. It is unclear whether any person is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Watson in Harris County, Texas.
While nearly two dozen lawsuits have been filed against Watson in less than a month, the lawsuits are just beginning. The cases are now being remanded to several judges for review, but it is unclear when or whether they will be consolidated, something that will lead to decisions about the anonymity of the accused, the possible denial possibilities, possible discovery and a host of other steps that could lead to trial.
Other factors could shape the contours of the case, including any possible developments in the investigations by the police and the NFL, which have begun their own investigation and may suspend Watson while investigating the allegations against him. Although the accusations have increased in a short time, the lawsuit is at a very early stage, according to Stephanie Stradley, a lawyer in Houston who regularly writes about lawsuits concerning the Texans and the NFL.
“If you make a football analogy, the ball is kicked off and people run off the field, but no one has caught the ball yet,” she said. ‘These matters are difficult enough as the world does not look. It can be a little messy to figure out what the full facts are. ‘