I’ve got it right, not bad. You have a horribly outdated opinion of the world. Even if someone is a sex worker they Can In Fact say NO. Thy aren’t lesser class citizens. There is however NO prove any of these women were/are sex workers. Watson in the educated expert opinions of those in Law Enforcement who investigated this committed crimes. It appears the Grand Jury process may have been compromised by Hardin, which is why Watson hired a criminal defense lawyer, not a civil attorney. Read the statement of the HPD Investigator that worked the cases. Why wasn’t she allowed to talk to certain victims? Why wasn’t she called to testify before the GJ, which is common practice? Why weren’t the complainants allowed to testify? How do you review 10 plus cases in 5.5 hours when cases like this routinely get reviewed by GJs for days each? Kim Oggs Harris County DAs office is literally the worst in history. There is a brewing scandal that will probably bring her down. It’s not just the Watson case. You hire a bunch of political hacks and defense attorneys and run off great career prosecutors you get a corrupt office.
Also… a little law lesson for you. Just because 1 GJ failed to indict doesn’t mean another will see it the same. There is no double jeopardy. Watson still has tremendous exposure. Plus you have the Feds as well. Watson is a bad guy. The evidence was there to go to trial. Something funky happened between Hardin and the ADA.
On Buzbee…. He isn’t looking for a big payday. He doesn’t need it…He is worth approx $700 million already. He isn’t some hack. He originally turned the case down.
Why you think Watson is a victim I have no idea. It is so in the minority opinion. Most every sees what he is. He is a scumbag criminal predator. The facts are truly overwhelming. If not for his fame, athletic ability and money he would already be in jail. That’s privilege.
But maybe I’m wrong…, or as you put it. Bad.
Just FYI, the average amount of time a grand jury spends on each case in Harris County is about 15 minutes or less. More often than not, the prosecutor only reads the probable cause statement and gives a short presentation to them. Calling witnesses isn't the norm, it's the exception. If a DA wanted an officer's take/opinion, they would just read it from the probable cause statement.
In addition, there is nothing unusual in of itself for the defense attorney to keep in touch with the prosecuting DA on a case before it is presented to a grand jury when the defense attorney thinks it is a close case. However, I will say the amount of contact Hardin had with the prosecutor is certainly well above average. For me it's usually only a couple of emails back and forth. While certainly not routine, defense attorneys do sometimes give prosecutors a packet of information, sometimes called a grand jury packet, if the prosecutor agrees to give it to the grand jurors. The Public Defender's Office in Harris County does this a lot from what I have heard.
Of course, the DA could also re-present the case to a different grand jury so long as the alleged offenses are still within the applicable statute of limitations. More women continuing to come forward could lead Ogg to present it again, and honestly I think that is why the officers went to the media (to get more women to come forward and shame the DA). However, Kim Ogg is a little preoccupied in her feud with the County Judge.
Regardless of any potential criminal liabilities, this has been a PR nightmare for the NFL and I expect they will reign hell on Watson once they are prepared to do so. That civil trial may also not go so well for Watson, but with Buzbee saying he wants to add the Texans as a defendant as well, then that civil case could get dragged out for a while. 24 women is still 24 women at the end of the day, and it is only natural to believe that something must have happened, that all of these women cannot be liars.
That will make it easy, just bring in 10 or so guys who received happy endings from each massage therapist. That would blow their credibility out of the water.
In general, a party cannot introduce prior acts to attack a person's character for truthfulness. The witness themselves would have to open the door to that evidence. Their allegation by itself isn't usually enough. Though if Hardin has such evidence, I imagine he will find a way to at least attempt to get into evidence as there are plenty of questions he could ask that could get a witness to open the door to such evidence.
Texas Rule of Evidence 608(b):
Specific Instances of Conduct. Except for a criminal conviction under Rule 609, a party may not inquire into or offer extrinsic evidence to prove specific instances of the witness’s conduct in order to attack or support the witness’s character for truthfulness.