Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones moves to have paternity suit against him dismissed, claims plaintiff offered ‘deal’ before filing lawsuit
By Andy Rose, CNN
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is dropping his effort to shield a paternity lawsuit from the public eye and is going on offense.
In new court filings, Jones’ legal team withdrew its request for a hearing to discuss sealing the suit brought by Alexandra Davis — who claims Jones is her biological father — and adds allegations that Jones was a victim of “attempted extortion.”
In a court document filed Monday afternoon, Jones’ attorneys alleged Davis offered to “make a deal” with Jones before filing the suit. The defense attorneys also allege Jones and the Cowboys were “targets of multiple monetary extortion attempts.”
“The potential source(s) of those attempted extortions, including, without limitation, the Plaintiff and her agents, will be the subject of other litigation which has been filed or will be instituted shortly,” the legal filing states.
Both sides initially agreed to seal the full lawsuit, but court documents state Davis “claims Defendant is Plaintiff’s biological father and makes several additional allegations claiming Defendant paid for Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s mother to keep this information confidential.”
Jones’ attorneys initially told the court that “Defendant has a serious and substantial interest in Plaintiff’s allegations not being public record.” Tuesday’s filing to withdraw his request to seal the case does not give a reason for the change.
Andrew Bergman, an attorney for Davis, told CNN he challenges Jones to provide evidence of the allegations made against his client.
“I will say that every single allegation about his daughter Alexandra seeking money and or extorting him is a sad, cynical, false, perverse, defamatory, malicious and pathetic attempt to avoid accountability for his behavior of dispossessing his own daughter,” Bergman said in a statement late Tuesday, adding a more detailed statement would be released Wednesday.
Jones did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment Tuesday evening.
ESPN and the Dallas Morning News both previously reported Jones met Davis’ mother, Cynthia Davis Spencer, when she was working at an American Airlines ticket counter at the airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. Davis is 25, the outlets reported.
Both the sports network and newspaper said they obtained a full copy of the lawsuit prior to it being sealed.
Both outlets also said Jones denied paternity, but agreed to pay $375,000 to Davis’ mother and establish two trust funds for Davis, according to the suit.
The-CNN-Wire
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