Deshaun Watson’s attorneys in September can begin deposing plaintiffs in the 22 sexual assault and harassment cases against the Texans quarterback, according to court documents.
State District Judge Rabeea Sultan Collier on May 10 signed an agreed docket control order which maps out dates for various phases of the litigation. Watson cannot be deposed before Feb. 22.
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The women can be deposed beginning Sept. 13, with up to six hours allotted for each plaintiff’s personal deposition. The Houston Chronicle typically does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault or harassment.
Watson himself can be deposed in late February and cannot exceed 48 hours of deposition, according to the docket order.
No settlement negotiations were underway earlier this month, when defense attorney Rusty Hardin released a statement claiming Buzbee had approached his team in attempts to discuss settlements. Buzbee denied that allegation, posting on Instagram that he had never approached Watson’s team to settle.
Hardin has said any potential settlement would need to be public.
See here and here for my previous updates. I haven’t posted on this in awhile, partly because we are now at the slow legal process point of the saga and partly because of other news. Sean Pendergast is more up to the minute on this stuff – see here, here, and here for his most recent updates. The discovery process in the lawsuit has begun, and that has the potential for some big revelations to occur, the kind of thing that one side or the other has been keeping quiet about. The depositions will likely tell us some new things as well. Settle in for the long haul, there probably won’t be much more to say for awhile.