Here's what happened on Day 1 of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' paternity trial
TEXARKANA — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' paternity federal trial kicked off on Monday in Texarkana, a case the businessman has been fighting for the last two years.
Jones countersued Alexandra Davis for breach of contract after she publicly claimed he was her father. The settlement contract was with her mother, Cynthia Davis, going back to the late 1990s. Both women were seen arriving at the courthouse.
The trial was centered around Jones' counterclaim.
"[Jones] knows he's the father. Now he's being vindictive because his 'real family' has been hurt," said on Monday Jay Gray, Alexandra Davis' attorney. "Mr. Jones is a bully, and he's bullying his daughter in this lawsuit. We don't have to help him be a bully."
Cynthia Davis' testimony lasted over 3 hours
Cynthia Davis took the stand as the plaintiff's first witness and began to sob as she recounted that her daughter begged "her entire life" to meet with Jones "for 15 minutes."
After she broke down, the judge called for a brief recess, the jury was ushered out, and Cynthia Davis and Jones shared a long embrace; they seemed to call Alexandra Davis over for a conversation, which she refused, also in tears. After the break, Cynthia Davis returned to the stand, where she was for more than 3 hours.
In opening statements, Jones' attorneys argued that he kept his end of the agreement, giving Cynthia Davis more than $3 million as part of the settlement. The Davis' attorneys contested that Jones breached the agreement first and that he is "a bully who only cares about money" and just wants revenge.
Jones is also expected to testify in the trial, as is Alexandra Davis.
Jones remained stoic in the courtroom, sitting with his back to the defendants and facing the jury for most of the day.
Alexandra Davis vs. Jerry Jones
Alexandra Davis' original lawsuit claimed that Jones "pursued" her mother, who was also married at the time, after they met while she was working for American Airlines out of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Their "Settlement Agreement" allegedly called for Jones to pay Cynthia Davis $375,000 and for Alexandra Davis to receive a "certain monthly, annual and special funding" from a trust until she was 21 years old, as well as lump sum payments when she turned 24, 26 and 28.
Alexandra Davis filed a paternity lawsuit in 2022, which eventually led to a judge's ruling in February 2024 in which Jones is required to take a paternity test. It was essentially put on hold after Jones filed an amended complaint in May.
In the 2022 lawsuit, Alexandra Davis sued Jones in Dallas County, and asked a judge to void a legal agreement she said her mother, Cynthia Davis, reached with Jones two years after she was born. The 1998 settlement allegedly stated that Jones would support them financially as long as they didn't publicly say he was Alexandra Davis' father — something the married owner of the Cowboys denied.
Jones' lawyers labeled it a monetary extortion attempt.
Alexandra Davis dropped that case later that year, saying she would instead seek to prove that Jones is her father. A judge later ordered Jones to take a paternity test to determine if he is Alexandra Davis' biological father.
In March, a federal judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against Jones by Alexandra Davis in which she claimed Jones and his friends tried to paint her in the public eye as an "extortionist." The lawsuit sought a multimillion-dollar payout. The federal judge said Davis and her attorneys didn't prove Jones acted with malice.
Jerry Jones' countersuit
Jones claimed Alexandra Davis and her mother breached a settlement agreement executed nearly two years after Davis was born.
In the court filing, Jones claims he paid more than $3 million which included the lump sums and monthly payments, as well as parties, clothing, a Range Rover, education, international trips and apartment rent as part of the agreement.
He is now seeking sanctions and attorney's fees. Jones claims Alexandra Davis' lawsuits and the disclosure of their agreement breached a contract. The original "Settlement Agreement" stated in part:
"If Mother or Child, or any person on behalf of Child, brings or commences any kind of legal proceeding seeking to establish the paternity of Child . . . , Putative Father may, in his sole discretion, elect to terminate the Agreement and the Funding Trust and the Distribution Trust, or either of them, and enforce any and all remedies available to him at law or in equity. A breach of this provision shall be considered a breach of the entire Agreement."
The Settlement Agreement also included confidentiality obligations in which neither party would disclose the facts and terms of the settlement.
Court documents show Jones demanded a jury trial.
A judge ruled that certain things may not be discussed during this trial, including:
- Reference to other alleged children, other alleged settlement agreements, or other alleged character evidence about Jones and his family.
- Referring to the Settlement Agreement as the "Hush Money" Agreement.
- Monetary demands or alleged extortion attempts.
- Alleged payments by Jones.
- Alleged threat or desire to breach the contract.
Jones and his wife, Gene, were married in 1963. They have three children who all have front-office roles with the Cowboys.
