Cowboys owner Jerry Jones faces a renewed claim that he and others defamed a woman who claims Jones is her father.
Via ESPN.com, Alexandra Davis re-filed her defamation complaint after a court order from last month dismissed part of her suit and gave her an opportunity to try to file a new document that would survive an inevitable challenge from Jones and others that the case should be thrown out of court.
The revised complaint claims that Jones, lawyer Donald P. Jack, and communications consultant Jim Wilkinson devised a plan to paint Davis as an “extortionist,” through a P.R. campaign “based knowingly on false statements and accusations.”
The prior order ruled that Davis was a “limited public figure,” triggering a higher bar to prove defamation.
“Throughout their smear campaign against Plaintiff, Defendants either knew the statements being made by them were false or they knew enough facts such that they should have entertained serious doubts as to the truth of their defamatory statements,” the new complaint contends.
The new complaint also accuses the defendants of “closely working with” Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.com, who wrote stories about the original lawsuit filed by Davis against Jones. The suit alleges that the defendants worked with other media members “to ensure all news outlets reported the statements Defendant Wilkinson had given to Van Natta.”
In the initial case, which is still pending, Davis seeks among other things to prove that Jones is her father.
The new complaint likewise alleges that the defendants attempted to tie Davis to a “‘conspiracy’ with others supposedly attempting to extort money from the Jones family.”
Most of the past stories on ESPN.com included a byline, with Van Natta’s name attached to multiple articles. The latest ESPN.com article has no byline at all, a development that likely arises from the new complaint’s effort to implicate Van Natta as a conduit for the P.R. campaign that Davis is attacking.
Last year, a judge in the initial case ordered that Jones submit to a paternity test. That test continues to be delayed.
