So, there haven't been many public statements about the details regarding the allegations against Deshaun Watson. Apparently he has a hearing with the NFL brass tomorrow and the Cleveland Browns are going to find out whether or not they screwed themselves with this trade pretty soon.
I'm not a lawyer, just a nerd. I'm coming from this as if I were a juror in any of these twenty-two potential civil trials.
Watson needs to settle. The guy just signed a $230 million guaranteed contract. Even if he pays out a million dollars per accuser, which isn't likely, he's still a rich dude.
He's already clear of criminal charges. He's not facing prison. This is about money and reputation.
I respect Watson trying to save his reputation, especially if he is innocent; but, that could be an issue for a later time. He could bring a defamation suit against Tony Buzbee if there's some kind of conspiracy going on. I don't know.
All I know is that civil courts operate on a more likely than not burden of proof rather than "beyond a reasonable doubt".
I don't see Watson winning twenty-two cases given the circumstances.
He and his camp have already acknowledged that he had about three times as many massage therapists in one year than most NFL players have in entire careers. They've admitted that he was finding these women on Instagram. They've acknowledged that some of the therapy sessions resulted in consensual sex.
If I'm a juror, that creates a pattern. There's a "he said she said" element; but, Watson's behavior tells me that he had certain expectations when scheduling these sessions. It's gonna be a high bar for him to hurdle to convince a jury, in all twenty-two cases, that he wasn't trolling for sex and that he never crossed a line.