On Wednesday, the attorney representing Shannon Sharpe’s sexual assault accuser failed to attend the first court hearing in the case in Las Vegas.
Days later, he offered an explanation that only served to add to the confusion.
Attorney Tony Buzbee told Pro Football Talk that he and Sharpe’s lawyers had agreed to postpone the July 9 hearing, which is why he didn’t attend.
“We are apologizing to the Court by letter for wasting the Court’s time,” wrote Buzbee in a statement provided to PFT. “There was a mutual agreement among counsel to postpone the motion scheduled for July 9. As a result, there was no expectation by our team that her legal team would appear in person.”
Clark County District Court Judge Anna Albertson had reportedly “expressed disappointment” when the Houston-based attorney and his team failed to show up Wednesday, per KLAS-TV.
Attorney Robert DeMarco appeared at the hearing on Sharpe’s behalf and asked Judge Albertson to review the case’s progress and extend 45 days, which the judge granted. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 3 in district court.
“It’s odd that Sharpe’s lawyers would have shown up for the hearing, if the hearing had been postponed,” wrote PFT’s Mike Florio. “It’s odd that, if/when the judge expressed disappointment regarding the failure of the plaintiff’s lawyers to appear, Sharpe’s lawyers wouldn’t have said that the lawyers had agreed to postpone the hearing.”
That hearing came a little over two months after Sharpe’s accuser filed a $50 million lawsuit, accusing the Hall of Fame tight end of “assault, sexual assault, battery, and sexual battery” when she was 19. The 57-year-old Sharpe denied the allegations and referred to the lawsuit as an “egregious attempt at blackmail” while threatening to countersue. While briefly remaining on ESPN airwaves, he ultimately opted to temporarily step away from his role on First Take as his legal team released salacious text messages and publicly identified the accuser, who responded by releasing voicemails that depicted Sharpe threatening her.
Buzbee previously represented many of the women who accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct.