HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- Attorneys for Deshaun Watson say they are still trying to identify four of the 22 women suing him for sexual misconduct.
During a status conference held Thursday afternoon in downtown Houston, Rusty Hardin requested a hearing to compel the plaintiffs' attorney Tony Buzbee to provide the defense team with their social security and driver's license information.
The attorneys disagreed on this point in court Thursday. From Hardin's standpoint, Buzbee should provide this information in compliance with judges' orders earlier this month for the plaintiffs to refile the lawsuits with their names attached.
Buzbee argues it is not necessary to file this information publicly, and called the notion "ridiculous."
This could be a matter of semantics, since the judges' orders did not specify identifying information in the order. Attorneys have told SportsRadio 610 it is not uncommon for attorneys to exchange partial social security and driver's license numbers privately.
Either way, Judge Rebeea Sulton Collier told the attorneys to agree on a how the case will be managed. She also told them to work on a protective order for the plaintiffs, though it was unclear if there will be a hearing on Hardin's motion.
About two weeks ago, Collier agree to take on all of the pre-trial discovery and motions, but to allow the cases to return to their original courts if they reach the trial phase.
The attorneys have until May 7 to agree on case management. A hearing could be scheduled before then to address Hardin's motion to strike and sanction Buzbee refiling the lawsuits without providing the identifying information he's seeking.
Read Hardin's filing in its entirety here:
Rusty Hardin wants social security, driver's license info on Deshaun Watson accusers by Brandon Scott on Scribd
