By Ryan Smith
04/05/08
April 04, 2008 11:58 pm
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Two months after being ordered to have no further contact with former basketball superstar Michael Jordan or any of his associates, Meadville resident Lisa Miceli is asking Crawford County Court of Common Pleas to dismiss the injunction.
Miceli says she had a personal relationship with Jordan several years ago and claims he is the father of her 3-year-old son. She had agreed in early February not to oppose Jordan’s motion for a preliminary injunction while also denying any wrongdoing on her part.
On Friday before President Judge Gordon R. Miller, Miceli filed a special request for dismissal of the injunction, and also filed a second motion for a new paternity hearing in Crawford County. His decision on voiding or upholding the injunction is expected within a few days, Miller said.
Currently representing herself, Miceli stated there’s no evidence to support Jordan’s allegations she is harassing him in violation of a 2005 agreement between the pair, and said she should be entitled to another paternity hearing, alleging “Michael Jordan is the father. ... There is no other father.”
Jordan, who was not in court Friday but was represented by attorneys, claims two DNA tests prove he is not the father and the pair had a signed agreement that if both tests came back negative, Miceli would dismiss her lawsuit and have no contact with him or his associates.
Jordan claims that Miceli has repeatedly breached that agreement by sending nearly 400 e-mails and notes to him and his representatives as well as making hundreds of telephone calls and leaving hundreds of voice mails.
Miceli, who’s said evidence from calls and e-mails was taken out of context and indicated she felt pressured into signing the agreement, claimed Friday the injunction has compromised her ability to negotiate in order to reach a child support agreement with Jordan.
According to attorney Frederick J. Sperling of Chicago, Ill., however, there’s no negotiations to be had.
“There is not going to be a settlement,” he said Friday while making arguments on Jordan’s behalf via telephone. “Mr. Jordan is not the father of her child, and we’re not going to engage in any discussions on that.”
Miceli also claimed Friday that Jordan’s and his associates’ actions and the allegations against her — which she said have included negative statements about her mental health — have irreparably damaged her personal life and her case, amounting to “extortion, defamation, blackmail and harassment.”
On those grounds, Miceli additionally said she should have the same right to file a motion for a similar injunction barring Jordan and his representatives from any contact with lawyers, witnesses and other people associated with her.
Miller said Friday he wouldn’t grant such a motion, and said the previous injunction filed by Jordan stands. He indicated he would decide on Miceli’s formal requests over the weekend and plans to issue a written order by early next week.
A 1990 graduate of Meadville Area Senior High School, Miceli has said she first met Jordan in 1999 at a charitable golf event in North Carolina.
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