Deshaun Watson to plead Fifth in deposition, grand jury decision could be this week |
Friday is purported to be a big day in the cases against
Deshaun Watson.
That will be when he is deposed for the civil cases against him for sexual assault and impropriety brought last year, and his lawyer says he will plead the Fifth Amendment there. A Houston grand jury is also reported to begin its decision process on whether criminal charges should be brought against Watson on Friday. There were 22 civil lawsuits brought in all against Watson starting last March. Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson gave a layout of the proceedings this week: While the two proceedings aren’t directly tied to each other, Watson’s legal camp had tried to hold off all of his depositions in the civil cases until after the grand jury's decision on a criminal indictment. The reasoning, presented in court by Watson’s defense attorney Rusty Hardin, was to avoid any chance of overlap in Watson’s testimony that could impact the grand jury proceedings. A judge rebuffed Hardin’s efforts and Watson’s deposition schedule was ordered to continue, resulting in Friday’s parallel proceedings. Hardin says it will culminate in Watson pleading the Fifth in all of his deposition appearances until there is a resolution in the grand jury proceeding. The Fifth Amendment protects a person from being compelled in a legal proceeding to testify as a witness against themselves. Hardin emphasized that pleading the Fifth shouldn't reflect on Watson. "The pleading of the Fifth is at my insistence — not Deshaun’s," Hardin said. "No lawyer in America would allow his client to answer questions in a civil suit while the same facts and cases are being considered at the same time by a grand jury. I asked [opposing counsel] Tony Buzbee to delay [the deposition] by one day and I would be glad to let Deshaun answer questions once the grand jury completed its investigation...We will be glad to give one once the criminal investigation is completed." Yahoo reports that the grand jury will have multiple witnesses, including from women in the civil lawsuits and criminal complaints. If Watson is indicted, Yahoo says Watson will have to make a plea and the criminal case will proceed, while if he is not indicted, Watson will not be held to the criminal complaints and the civil cases will be the focus. Before the allegations, Watson expressed his desire to be traded out of Houston. NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport said that there is a "robust" trade market for Watson still and teams potentially involved are the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks. Watson was a healthy scratch during the 2021 season and did not play a down. From @NFLTotalAccess: Deshaun Watson's legal situation should clear up a bit on Friday, and if it does, his market will be strong. The #Panthers are, again, among the teams in the mix. pic.twitter.com/RsCLNBEwIo
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