At long last, the national nightmare has come to an end in a courtroom. We can all breathe easier and move on with our lives.
A jury has ordered a retired eye doctor to pay Iron Man's widow a dollar, and her legal fees, after suing her after he ran her over while skiing. I don't know about you but I'm feeling much better.
Now we can turn our attention to more pressing issues of concern to Cowboys' fans.
While Jerry Jones has been enjoying an impressive run during the NFL offseason of late, he's not doing so well in court. A previously dismissed case has been revived and his ongoing battle with an alleged daughter has amped up.
Dismissal Overturned On Appeal
A civil suit filed in 2020 accusing him of sexual assault had been dismissed last year. But an appellate court recently overturned that ruling.
An appeal could be filed, of course, overturning the appellate court's ruling, or the case could go to trial. But those are events likely weeks down the road.
It isn't the first sexual assault case filed against Jones. And this recent case was filed by the same attorney that tried to sue Jones back in 2014.
That case was dismissed due to the statute of limitations having expired.
The more recent case had been dismissed when the original complaint had failed to include the identity of the alleged victim. Nor did it include any particulars of what had happened, or where it had occurred.
The appellate court ruled that later amendments to the complaint should have been accepted by the trial court and the suit should have been allowed to proceed.
daVIS FILES DEFAMATION SUIT
A little over a year ago, a then 25-year-old Alexandra Davis filed a lawsuit in Dallas County civil court claiming that Jerry Jones was her father.
The suit alleged there had been an affair with her mother, Cynthia Davis, in the mid-1990s and her birth was a result of that.
When her parents divorced, a paternity test confirmed that Mrs. Davis's now ex-husband was not the father. The suit claims that this was when Ms. Davis' mother stated that Jones was the father.
Jones has denied this allegation.
About a month later, the lawsuit was dropped.
But Ms. Davis has continued to ask that Jones take a paternity test, a request he continues to refuse.
She also seeks to be released from a confidentiality agreement her mother entered into with Jones when she was only a year old.
A court did order Jones to take a paternity test but a stay was issued through at least the end of May on that ruling. However, the two sides have continued to spar since the original lawsuit was dropped.
That fight has now carried over into a Federal lawsuit filed last month.
In it, Davis is asking for an unspecified amount of damages for defamation.
The suit was filed in Texarkana, Texas, and lists Jones, Donald T. Jack Jr. — an Arkansas lawyer and friend of Jones — and Jim Wilkinson — a communications assistant to Jones — as defendants.
The suit alleges the three waged a campaign to paint Davis as “an extortionist” and “a shakedown artist” in response to her original lawsuit against Jones.
Her attorney has said he has never asked for money from Jones for his client to settle the lawsuit.
All they want is for Jones to acknowledge his daughter.
Jack has alleged that Davis handed him a letter demanding $20 million from Jones. The lawsuit explains the letter was just an exercise written out at the behest of a therapist.
Jack has also claimed that Jones has paid nearly $3 million to Davis, including her full tuition at Southern Methodist University and a $70,000 Range Rover over the years.
What's Next?
Look, I'm not a lawyer. I don't play one on TV and I haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in years. No one outside the three people directly involved knows who is right and who is wrong in these cases.
I don't pretend to know how these latest legal dramas will play out.
If all parties involved don't settle the cases beforehand, two juries will sort through the details and make their rulings. Appeals will be filed and perhaps it will all be wrapped up by 2030.
But in a year that looks promising on the field, Jones' off-field woes are a distraction he could probably do without.
At any rate, at least until the season kicks off in September, it'll be entertaining.
Or as Terrell Owens would say: Get your popcorn.
