DallasNews.com
By Kevin Krause and Robert Wilonsky / 16 October 2014 11:19 PM
A Dallas County district judge on Thursday dismissed a sexual assault and conspiracy lawsuit filed by a former stripper from Oklahoma against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Jana Weckerly filed the suit in Dallas County district court in September, alleging that Jones sexually assaulted her at a local hotel in 2009.
“We are pleased with the court’s judgment against Ms. Weckerly,” Levi McCathern II, the attorney representing the Cowboys and Jones, said in a brief statement. “Ms. Weckerly’s allegations were false. This case is over.”
Thomas Bowers, Weckerly’s attorney, said he and his client “do not contest the judgment as entered by the court.”
The 27-year-old Weckerly, of Ardmore, Okla., had been seeking more than $1 million in damages.
The suit claimed that Jones “intentionally and knowingly” received oral sex in front of Weckerly. The suit also said Jones, his attorneys and the Cowboys tried to buy her silence with regular payments from 2009 to July 2013.
The attorneys were scheduled to meet in court Thursday to argue McCathern’s motion to dismiss the suit.
Jones’ attorney, who had consistently denied Weckerly’s allegations, filed documents last week trying to get the case thrown out. Jones’ latest filing said Weckerly’s suit should have been barred by the “applicable statutes of limitations.”
The civil statute of limitations is five years for sexual assault and two years for conspiracy. Jones’ motion to dismiss notes that Weckerly claimed the assault took place in June 2009 but waited until September 2014 to file a lawsuit.
Bowers has said his client was threatened and coerced into signing an agreement to keep quiet. She accepted the payments, he said, because that’s what she was told to do.
Bowers also previously said Weckerly was bullied into believing she would be in trouble if she told anyone about the alleged incident. Bowers said his client was paid money “to keep her from going to police or filing a lawsuit.” Those payments, he argued, reset the statute of limitations clock for conspiracy.
But on Thursday, Bowers said “neither Jerry Jones nor the Cowboys organization has paid us any money.” He did not elaborate or respond to questions.
McCathern has described the lawsuit as a “shakedown” and a “money grab.” He said in court documents that Bowers tried to extort money from Jones before filing the lawsuit.
Grainy cellphone photos from the night in question show Jones clothed, standing behind a blond woman, cupping her clothed breast.
In another photo, a woman with brown hair has her face pressed against Jones’ crotch. His hand is on the back of her head. Jones has said the photos “misrepresented” what happened, but would not answer follow-up questions.
McCathern has said that Weckerly took the photos but that all the other allegations are false.