USAT: Browns Wire audio clip

USAT: Browns Wire

Mar 24, 2022

- - - Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson remains entrenched in legal complications, even after the Harris County grand jury decided to not pursue criminal charges against the former Houston Texans quarterback on nine cases of sexual assault and harassment. - Watson, who joined the Browns in a trade last week, still has one criminal case pending a grand jury decision — one of the many complications that came with giving Watson a massive contract extension upon arriving to Cleveland. Watson also faces 22 civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and harassment. - Per the NY Times on Thursday, Watson still has one pending criminal charge that a grand jury must decide on: - - “Days after Deshaun Watson was traded to the Cleveland Browns, a second grand jury in Texas is considering evidence related to another accusation of sexual misconduct against the N.F.L. quarterback, according to Tony Buzbee, the lawyer for the complainant. - “The case, in Brazoria County, south of Houston, is the last criminal case pending against Watson.” - - It is unknown if the Browns had knowledge of this pending case prior to trading for Watson. In their announcement of the trade, owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam noted “still some legal proceedings that are ongoing” but most believed that was related to the civil cases. - If the grand jury decides to pursue a criminal charge in this case, Watson’s legal troubles could draw out for even longer. A pending criminal proceeding could also impact Watson’s availability to play for Cleveland with Roger Goodell holding authority to suspend the quarterback or place him on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. - Update - First, Watson’s lawyer stated that the Browns organization was aware of this grand jury case: - - Rusty Hardin: 'This is a year-old allegation. We knew, the Browns knew. Deshaun is going to be the Browns quarterback this year.' - — Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 24, 2022 - - - Second, late Thursday afternoon came the news that the grand jury has declined to indict Watson on this case as well. - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Browns Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Browns Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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