Texans GM Nick Caserio: 'Zero interest' in trading Deshaun Watson

[KD in CA]

3 hours ago, Spartacus said:

this could be seen as a positive for Watson, as the number who did not file claims for his actions just went up by a bunch, bolstering his story that he did nothing wrong / illegal  

 

I think the line between wrong and illegal has all but evaporated in the public's eye.  Nothing that has come out the past day or so makes him any more likely to face criminal charges (nor should it), but instead of him climbing out of the hole, it appears to be getting deeper.  Even the ones who didn't file suit are telling a similar story to those who did. 

 

I'm upping my official suspension line to 8 games....but it's starting to feel like it could go even higher.

[snafu]

5 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

I think the line between wrong and illegal has all but evaporated in the public's eye.  Nothing that has come out the past day or so makes him any more likely to face criminal charges (nor should it), but instead of him climbing out of the hole, it appears to be getting deeper.  Even the ones who didn't file suit are telling a similar story to those who did. 

 

I'm upping my official suspension line to 8 games....but it's starting to feel like it could go even higher.

His base salary this season is just over a million.

I’d think that the Browns and Watson agree with your take.

 

[KD in CA]

4 minutes ago, snafu said:

His base salary this season is just over a million.

I’d think that the Browns and Watson agree with your take.

 

 

So with Watson out, the only logical thing left to do is for the Browns and Niners to trade Baker for JimmyG, right?   

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by KD in CA

[snafu]

2 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

So with Watson out, the only logical thing left to do is for the Browns and Niners to trade Baker for JimmyG, right?   

 

Obviously.  I’ve been saying that all winter. 😎

 

[Billsandhorns]

How many quarterbacks are on the Browns roster? Like 12?

[Alaska Darin]

Wonder how his focus is ATM.

 

 

[Alaska Darin]

[Alaska Darin]

[Alaska Darin]

[Ann]

Police detective testifies she believed Deshaun Watson committed crimes
 

A Houston police detective testified this week that she believed Deshaun Watson committed crimes after investigating 10 criminal complaints against him, according to a pretrial deposition transcript obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
 

The detective, Kamesha Baker, said she expressed her opinion to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. But she wasn't called to testify before the grand jury in Harris County, Texas, and doesn’t know why the grand jury didn’t indict the Cleveland Browns quarterback on criminal charges. She said she believed Watson committed criminal indecent assault, sexual assault and prostitution in cases where money was exchanged and there was consensual sex.
 

“Did you feel confident that you had the evidence needed to pursue those charges?” Baker was asked in the deposition.

 

“Yes,” Baker said.

 

“And was there any doubt in your mind as the investigating officer that a crime had occurred?”

 

“No,” Baker said.

 

Baker testified in a pretrial deposition for the civil litigation against Watson in Houston, where he has been sued by 24 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in 2020 and early 2021. Eight of those women also filed complaints with Houston police about Watson’s conduct, in addition to two other women who filed police complaints who have not sued Watson in civil court.

 

</snip>
 

Watson’s legal team had serious issues with this detective’s testimony, noting that she admitted to believing the women at the outset, arguably creating an unfair presumption of guilt for Watson. Watson’s lead counsel, Rusty Hardin, also got Baker to admit it was possible the prosecutor had considerably more evidence at her disposal than Baker did. 
 

"The presumption of innocence is a fundamental tenet of our justice system," Leah Graham, another one of Watson's attorneys, said in a statement Friday. "It is incredibly unfortunate that this presumption was not given to Deshaun Watson by one of the investigating officers. Ultimately, however, justice was served by two grand juries in two separate jurisdictions who did what this detective refused to do: take a fair and impartial look at all of the evidence before reaching a conclusion."
 

In her deposition, Baker noted some of the cases were stronger than others. In two cases, she wanted sexual assault charges but noted she didn’t think the grand jury would support those charges because there wasn’t enough evidence.
 

“Two of them we considered sexual assault because of the way the statute is written that speaks specifically to coercion and we felt that there was enough to insinuate that power and influence was in the room and it was coercive,” Baker testified. “And when power and influence is in the room, consent cannot be.”
 

</snip>

[devnull]

Anyone else see the irony in the investigating detectives name is Baker

 

Or that Watsons attorney is named Hardin

[Ann]

It's like a class action suit. Bet Buzbee ends up with millions and these women end up with a coupon for pepper spray. 

[Spartacus]

8 hours ago, Ann said:

It's like a class action suit. Bet Buzbee ends up with millions and these women end up with a coupon for pepper spray. 

Buzbee only gets a big payday if Watson settles or loses in court.

 

must be really pissed that those 2 plaintiffs stuffed his Miami pre-trade settlement plan and Cleveland stepped in to make the trade without resolution.  

 

New cases being added after a plaintiff only realize she was a victim after watching an HBO show

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Spartacus

[Ann]

From earlier today:

Deshaun Watson responds to 26 lawsuit and he is start QB at Browns | FULL Interview
 

 

[Alaska Darin]

 

[Taro T]

44 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

 

 

That seems debatable.  But were it to happen, it would make that trade the Brownsiest thing ever and would have Jest fans breathing a sigh of relief as that's even worse that whatever happens to be the Jetsiest thing ever.

[Ann]

I didn't see a link to the full deposition. Yahoo Sports listed more of her back and forth with Watson's attorney. This woman. She appears to be firmly in the #believeallwomen camp sans evidence.
 

Tense deposition in Deshaun Watson lawsuit featured battles over presumption of innocence, coercion vs. consent

 

 As the depositions in the Deshaun Watson case continue to unfold, the trenches being dug by each legal camp are becoming more defined. Few exchanges may have been more revealing than last week’s lengthy questioning of Houston Police Department detective Kamesha Baker, whose 230-page deposition has been obtained by Yahoo Sports.
 

</snip>

 

Hardin: And where in your world, Detective Baker, and I mean this very nicely, does judgment of credibility come? Does the woman always get the benefit of the doubt?

 

Baker: I start by believing all the victims. Absolutely. Stand by that 100 percent. Anyone investigating a sex crime should start by believing the complainant. Provided defense provides something that refutes it, we’re going to believe that complainant.

 

Hardin: So in your world of investigation, the defendant always has to prove his innocence?

 

Baker: Yes.

 

Hardin: Okay. Are you not aware that’s not the way the system is supposed to work? Isn’t it, Detective Baker, supposed to work the other way, that — that even when you’re investigating, it is — are you saying that all it takes is the woman makes an allegation and once she makes the allegation, the defendant has to disprove it?

 

Baker: Yes. The defendant has to disprove it.

 

Hardin: So that would mean, would it not, that in each of these situations where the woman made the allegation at the very beginning, then you’re going to believe it until and unless we can succeed and convince you otherwise?

Baker: It’s not about convincing. It’s about is there evidence to corroborate your — your client’s version of what happened. Because as you stated before, in the other world of investigating cases, the defendant is presumed innocent. This is the only crime — that’s the reason why they’re hard to prosecute and charge and do all of this — is that the women never get the benefit of doubt. They’re always presumed to be lying.

 

</snip>

 

Hardin: So let’s say the accused person doesn’t provide you any evidence. They just simply say and deny it and say it’s not true. You with me?

 

Baker: Yes.

 

Hardin: And your position is if the accused does not provide you evidence to disprove what the woman is saying, then you’re always going to believe the woman?

 

Baker: I have no other reason not to.

 

Hardin: Okay. And so when she makes the allegation, you start out believing her?

 

Baker: Start out believing them.

 

Hardin: And then it is the burden of the defendant to convince you as an investigator that they’re wrong. Is that right?

Baker: To provide evidence to support that they’re wrong, yes.

 

Hardin: All right. So now if an encounter happens in private between just two people, what evidence can the accused provide to show a woman saying X happened and he denies it?

 

Baker: In my cases that I’ve had I have had videos. I have had a suspect turn over a video where the complainant alleged one thing, said it was not consensual. Video showed didn’t look — it looked pretty consensual.

 

</snip>

 

Hardin: Wow. Then really, a person that you are suggesting should never take a chance on getting a massage, because if anybody wants to accuse him of something, he has no recourse. Right? If the woman accuses him of anything and he has those attributes, he has no defense because you’re going to believe the woman?

 

Baker: (Witness nods.)

 

Hardin: And then you’re going to say there can’t be consent because of — because of his status in the community. Or — right?

 

Baker: Yes.

 

</snip>

[Alaska Darin]

Constitution/Schmonstitution.

 

I do understand why there are detectives who think the way she does - because for far too long the victim's credibility was more in question than the alleged perpetrators.  The balance of that was all out of whack and now, thanks to Pravda the pendulum has swung completely the other direction.

 

It's just about impossible for the average human to put aside their biases - we're simply not wired that way.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

2 hours ago, Ann said:

 

 

Hardin: Wow. Then really, a person that you are suggesting should never take a chance on getting a massage, because if anybody wants to accuse him of something, he has no recourse. Right? If the woman accuses him of anything and he has those attributes, he has no defense because you’re going to believe the woman?

 

 

 

Like it or not, this is the world we're living in.  If a woman accuses me of sexual assault, I have no recourse against the accusation.

 

Even photo evidence that I was never in the vicinity of the woman wouldn't work, not when the accusation could change with "Must've gotten the day/time wrong," and it must be believed.

[KD in CA]

3 hours ago, Ann said:

 

Baker: I start by believing all the victims. Absolutely. Stand by that 100 percent. Anyone investigating a sex crime should start by believing the complainant. Provided defense provides something that refutes it, we’re going to believe that complainant.

 

I didn't go to law school, but it's our system supposed to be built on the exact opposite of that presumption??