Deshaun Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin has been consistent with his defense of Watson.
He has never denied happy endings took place or that some sort of non-massage activities happened with the therapists or IG models. Hardin has always said everything was consensual, and none of the women had a problem with it until they realized they could make some money off the accusation.
It is a risky defense because you tell people that you know how someone feels better than they do. In a criminal sense, it worked out because there was no hard evidence to back up any type of criminal assault.
Civil cases are a little different as the burden of proof is weaker. Hardin, in particular, is going after one of his accusers for continually contacting Watson after she was allegedly assaulted, according to USA Today. Hardin wants all the accusers’ medical and therapy records to try to poke holes if they felt emotional distress after meeting with Watson.
In one case, plaintiff Lauren Baxley was diagnosed with “complex PTSD” by her therapist, according to court records, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder. However, in a deposition testimony in January, that same therapist was presented with information from Hardin’s legal team that Hardin says undermines the woman’s case.
“Did you know Ms. Baxley responded to Mr. Watson 19 times after the day of the massage with him?” asked one of Watson’s attorneys, Rachel Lewis, referring to text messages.
“No. I wasn’t aware of that,” the therapist replied, according to a transcript filed in court to support Hardin’s argument.
“Are you aware that she offered to work with him again and they worked on scheduling additional sessions?” Watson’s attorney asked the therapist.
“Really?” the therapist replied. “Hmmm. I never would have known that if you hadn’t told me. No. I didn’t know that.”
The text messages shown to the therapist in the depositions include Watson asking her if she’s taking clients, asking about another spa that “you sent me” to and him saying hello to her, according to the transcript.
Baxley’s attorneys, Tony Buzbee and Cornelia Brandfield-Harvey, responded Friday with a statement to USA TODAY Sports that said Watson contacted Baxley and she responded because she was afraid of retaliation, as she testified in her own deposition.
“Her counselor explained that it is not uncommon for victims to keep in contact with their abusers,” the statement said. “Doing so does not mean that the victim consented to the perpetrator’s abusive behavior. Her counselor testified that the symptoms she observed with Ms. Baxley are consistent with someone who has been assaulted. Watson’s lawyers neglected to include any of this information, of course.”
The question begs, if an alleged victim is still in contact with their alleged abuser does that make their case weaker?
That is something a jury will have to decide.
Flip the pages for Baxley explaining what she went through with Watson.
