Paul George, the Indiana Pacers star forward, was lambasted by New York judge Matthew Cooper in his paternity case involving a 5-month-old he fathered with former stripper Daniela Rajic.
“Even though it is all but certain that [George] is the father of the 5-month-old baby girl at the center of this case,” the New York Post reports that Cooper wrote, “he has gone to every length imaginable to avoid taking responsibility for his actions.”
Those lengths include requesting the case be heard in federal court. That was denied, and so Paul then brought a competing proceeding in Florida, where they first had sex, at the Fontainebleu Hotel in Miami. The baby, however, was conceived in California and born in New York, so the fatherhood question rests in New York.
Insulting to Cooper was that George, while trying to avoid paternity in New York, is asking for full custody in Florida because Rajic is unemployed.
“It is beyond comprehension how [George] could vouch for his skill at caring for the child while disparaging [Rajic’s] abilities when he has never even seen the child, asked to see the child, or offered to provide for the child’s needs,” Cooper wrote in the 10-page decision.
George missed a court appearance after breaking his leg in August, which did not sit well with Cooper because the player was still “able to attend press conferences, travel for recreation and ride in his new Ferrari.”
Cooper blames the lawyers of Gordon & Rees for bringing the failed federal claim with statements that were “complete and utter fabrication.”
The lawyers, C. Anthony Mulrain and Mercedes Colwin, tried to move the state court matter to federal court under false pretenses, claiming it was a child support case when Rajic was only asking for paternity to be resolved. Cooper called the move “an egregious abuse of court resources” that likely violates the state’s professional conduct code.”
Rajic’s lawyer, Raoul Felder, said, “On behalf of our client we are, of course, gratified.”
