CLEVELAND — Deshaun Watson was scheduled to be deposed in Houston as a part of one of two ongoing civil lawsuits accusing the Cleveland Browns quarterback of sexual misconduct.
Those plans, however, have since changed, with a judge granting a motion to quash the deposition.
According to court records, Watson's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, filed the motion due to ongoing scheduling difficulties between the two sides. In the motion, Hardin states that two sides had agreed to conduct the deposition on April 6, with the plaintiff's attorney requesting the deposition be delayed after one of its side's lawyers fell ill.
The plaintiff's attorneys then unilaterally re-noticed it for Monday, April 10 -- a date Hardin says they were aware Watson and his team wouldn't be able to attend.
"The least that [the plaintiff's] counsel could do would be to attempt to reschedule on a date when everyone can attend," Hardin's motion reads. "Indeed, a cynical observer of this chain of events might view the tactics of [the plaintiff's] lawyers as calculated to (unnecessarily) bring this issue back before the Court rather than simply taking the deposition on an agreed date (as was supposed to happen this very day)."
The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, first filed a civil lawsuit against Watson in October 2022, accusing him of attempting "to solicit sexually related acts ... including intercourse" in December 2022, when he was a member of the Houston Texans. She is one of more than two dozen massage therapists to make accusations of sexual misconduct against Watson, who has since settled 23 civil lawsuits, with two -- including this one -- still ongoing.
While two Texas grand juries declined to indict Watson on criminal charges, an NFL investigation found that he violated the league's Personal Conduct Policy on three counts related to the accusations. The Clemson product and NFL agreed to a settlement on an 11-game suspension -- and a $5 million fine -- which he served to open the 2022 season, his first with the Browns.
Watson has maintained his innocence throughout the process.