A Dallas County judge on Thursday denied a motion for summary judgment requested by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, allowing a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault to proceed once again to trial.
Jones, the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, was sued in September 2020 by a South Carolina woman who alleged Jones sexually assaulted her two years earlier at a private event at AT&T Stadium after a Cowboys game. The suit was dismissed in February 2022 but later reopened. Several trial dates have been set, but the case has been delayed multiple times.
The jury trial, which has been rescheduled several times, is currently set for July 20, 2026.
At the summary judgment hearing, Jones’ legal team, which included attorneys Levi McCathern and Ty Sheaks, argued that the alleged assault did not happen and questioned aspects of the woman’s story and the credibility of alleged witnesses to the assault. In response, Antwone Cobbin, one of the lawyers representing the woman, called the motion for a summary judgment “frivolous” and said the facts of the case should be left up to a jury to decide.
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Neither Jones nor the woman who accused him of assault appeared at the court hearing.
The Dallas Morning News does not typically name victims of alleged sexual assault.
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At the hearing, McCathern showed photos taken the night of the alleged assault showing the woman and her grandson posing with both Jones and former Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith. Metadata from the photos showed they were taken about two-and-a-half minutes apart, and according to the lawsuit, the assault happened after the woman took the photo with Jones and before the photo was taken with Smith.
McCathern pointed to the photo with Smith, and said both the woman and her grandson were smiling and appeared happy in the photo, which he said was inconsistent with previous filings in the suit which said both were distraught following the alleged assault. McCathern also questioned the woman’s testimony about the alleged assault, pointing to her statements about how she did not remember how and where Jones touched her.
McCathern said the man who took the photos and several security guards seen in the photos looking at Jones and the woman testified in affidavits that they did not witness an assault or any other inappropriate conduct between Jones and the woman.
McCathern also pointed to a number of other witnesses, including former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and former running back Ezekiel Elliott, who were present at the event and testified they did not witness an assault. McCathern said it was “impossible” that Jones could have assaulted the woman in the crowded room without more people seeing it.
Sheaks, another of Jones’ attorneys, also moved to have some affidavits and filings in the case stricken, as he said several witness affidavits contradicted with one another and said several witnesses, such as the woman’s doctor, had only heard about the assault and did not witness it, amounting to “hearsay within hearsay.”
McCathern also questioned the credibility of a “disinterested” witness in the case, who Thomas Bowers, an attorney for the woman, described as a member of Dallas Cowboys Women’s Association who witnessed the assault. McCathern said the witness, who he said was dating a Cowboys player at the time, did not discuss the assault with anyone until this year despite having close ties to the Cowboys and after she allegedly met the plaintiff and heard about the alleged assault.
McCathern said the witness “made up” the statements in her affidavit.
In response, Cobbin said several witnesses who said they did not see the assault occur saw the “commotion” that came after the incident, which included gasping and Jones being rushed from the room. Cobbin also said several other witnesses testified that they witnessed the assault, including the woman’s grandson, and said most of the witnesses who testified that the assault did not occur worked for Jones.
Cobbin said the evidence his client has is more than enough to warrant a jury trial and requested the summary judgment request be denied.
“Once the jury sees the evidence, we believe they will find Mr. Jones sexually assaulted [the plaintiff],” Cobbin said.
Judge Aiesha Redmond, who is presiding over the case, took the matter under advisement following the hearing and issued a ruling denying the summary judgment motion later Thursday.
After the hearing, McCathern said the facts presented in court were “100% accurate” and said Jones’ legal team have many people who will testify nothing happened.
“It’s an absolute hogwash case. It’s completely made up,” McCathern said. “Jerry didn’t do anything wrong.”
Cobbin denied comment after the hearing, but Bowers said in a phone call that the filing was “frivolous” and accused Jones’ lawyers of extending the case long enough so that his client would give up.
“Each side has witnesses, but theirs are paid,” Bowers said. “We have an avalanche of evidence. Justice will prevail at the end of the day.”
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