Mike Florio notes 3 key points from testimony of detective who believes Deshaun Watson committed multiple crimes

Deshaun Watson is seemingly losing the public's support, and as the ship sinks and a possible suspension looms, his legal team is driving the situation to the ground.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio pointed out three specific points highlighting the failures (and the singular triumph) of Watson's counsel. The first centered around the cardinal sin of denying the validity of the victims' claims, which lead attorney Rusty Hardin is being blamed for.

"Rusty Hardin’s questioning advances the misguided notion (as articulated last week by co-counsel Leah Graham) that the presumption of innocence applicable at trial also should apply in the investigative phase. Hardin and Graham essentially believe that, when a women makes a criminal complaint alleging sexual misconduct, the response by law enforcement should be skepticism and cynicism, not support and comfort."

The second centered around the possibility that Deshaun Watson coerced these women into sexual activity, thus making it a case of sexual assault.

"Second, Detective Baker’s testimony focused at times on the difference between consent and coercion. Baker argued that various facts inherent to the difference in size and stature of Watson and the women he hired on Instagram to provide him with private massages makes it difficult to consent. That any sexual activity that occurred could have indeed resulted from implicit concern about what would happen if the massage therapist declined Watson’s effort to pivot from massage to sexual encounter."

Finally, the angle of Watson's counsel was to make it a case of the quarterback's word vs. each individual accuser's, which was the only positive the quarterback's legal team had to hang their hats on.

"Third, the cases necessarily come down to the word of each woman against Watson because that’s how the massage sessions were structured. That’s apparently how Watson wanted these massages to proceed. Two people in the room. No one else. As a result, there was never a witness to corroborate the version of either participant."

Deshaun Watson is either a victim of extortion or a sexual predator: Mike Florio

This case has entered very uncomfortable territory. It's possible Watson's time as a top-line NFL quarterback is done, and his legacy may be forever tarnished. If this isn't the case, and Deshaun Watson is somehow deemed innocent (not likely given the number of accusers), a very coordinated attack on his character is the cause of this case existing in the first place.

As Florio put it, he's either a victim of extortion or a sexual predator.

"Either he’s the victim of an unprecedented witch hunt against a rich and famous pro athlete, or he’s a predator. At this point, there’s no middle ground."

This story is at the end of a dark road, no matter where it leads.

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