TEXARKANA, Texas — The first day of a civil trial involving Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was packed with emotion, as the mother of the woman claiming to be Jones' daughter broke down crying numerous times during her testimony.
At one point, the judge paused testimony for a break as Cynthia Davis was too emotional to continue testifying, and Jones gave her a long hug after she stepped off the witness stand.
Jones is suing Cynthia Davis and her daughter, Alexandra Davis, for $1.1 million in attorneys' fees, alleging they violated a contract Cynthia Davis agreed to on behalf of her daughter when she was nearly 2 years old in 1998.
Throughout the first day, Jones sat with his back turned to Alexandra Davis. Despite the contract, which stipulated providing the woman with tens of thousands of dollars over the course of her young life, he still denies she is his daughter and has not taken a paternity test to this point.
In opening statements, Jones' attorney Chip Babcock argued that the Davises violated the contract's clause, which prohibited them from suing Jones for paternity. He said that each party, Cynthia Davis and Jones, wanted to keep this confidential and didn't want it coming out, as both were married at the time, though Cynthia Davis was separated from her husband.
"Mr. Jones did everything he was obligated to do under the agreement and then some," Babcock said.
Alexandra Davis' attorney Jay Gray argued in his opening statement that Jones violated the agreement first. During testimony, Cynthia Davis said Jones had acknowledged Alexandra Davis as his daughter multiple times, most recently at a Christmas party at the Cowboys Club in 2019, where she and a friend of hers ran into Jones.
Cynthia Davis said Jones had told her friend that he had two daughters, Alexandra Davis and Charlotte Jones, and that he loved them both the same, but Cynthia Davis said she didn't think this was true.
"He doesn't mean it," she testified to telling her friend that night. "He's never gonna talk to her."
But, despite these alleged breaches, Babcock pointed out she never confronted Jones about it, and that under the agreement, she was entitled to more money if he had breached the agreement.
Davis' attorneys said that speaking to Jones for 15 minutes is all Alexandra Davis wanted, according to notes she gave to Jones' attorney Donald Jack during a meeting at the Al Biernat's Steakhouse in Dallas in November 2017. That dinner meeting occurred a month before Alexandra Davis' 21st birthday when the monthly payments from Jones were scheduled to stop.
However, Jones' attorneys also argue that the letter included Alexandra Davis asking Jones for $20 million to be out of his life completely. Cynthia Davis said her daughter was upset, as at that time, Jones had recently paid $20 million to the illegitimate child of his son, Jerry Jones Jr.
"Alexandra Davis is Mr. Jones' daughter," Gray said during his opening statement. "Mr. Jones knows she is his daughter."
Gray said Jones is suing the Davises for telling people she is his daughter and called it "a very Jones thing to do," as well as calling Jones a bully.
"A two-year-old child should not have to hide the identity of their father," Gray said.
While Jones is accusing the Davises of breaking a promise, Gray says that Jones broke the ultimate promise: The promise to his wife.
"He knows he's the real father, but now he's vindictive because his real family has been hurt," Gray said.
But Babcock said whatever promise Jones made to his wife, it's not relevant to this case, which is about a contract made between Jones and Cynthia Davis.
Cynthia Davis said there were times she regretted signing the contract, but Babcock pointed out she never repudiated that contract. And her daughter had never opposed the contract upon reaching the age of adulthood.
"I signed it but I'm learning more about it today than I knew prior," Cynthia Davis testified.
The plaintiffs further argued Cynthia Davis breached the agreement by giving confidential documents relating to Alexandra being Jones' daughter to Shy Anderson, his son-in-law, while he was going through a hotly contested divorce with Jones' daughter, Charlotte Jones. Davis said Shy, who she had been friends with for decades, had asked her for them, and that he had already learned about her daughter from someone.
Attorneys representing Jones also played a clip of the 2011 reality TV series "Big Rich Texas," which the Davises were featured on. The clip showed Cynthia Davis saying men only cared about one thing: Money. However, Cynthia Davis said she was scripted by producers to say this.
Jones' attorneys also showed alleged text messages from Cynthia Davis telling her daughter to lie about the note she gave Jack at the dinner meeting. Cynthia Davis said she regretted saying that, and that she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer at that time. She also said the letter was part of an exercise from Alexandra Davis' therapist.
Notably, as the proceedings continue, this trial will also feature questions for the witnesses from members of the jury-- a stipulation that was agreed on by each side's lawyers. Each jury member can anonymously submit questions to the judge who determines whether the questions may be asked.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Jerry Jones is listed next on the witness list, although it is not clear if lawyers will call him to the stand first thing Tuesday.