02/02/08 —

Meadville resident Lisa A. Miceli believes former basketball superstar Michael Jordan is the father of her child and, despite two DNA tests that indicate otherwise, she’s not about to back down.

Her stance has led to her most recent court battle with the former NBA champion, and she’s not happy about how that fight is playing out. She claims that Jordan and his attorneys have misrepresented her in court documents and that a hearing set for the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas on Wednesday should be moved out of state. She also claims to be writing a book about her experiences with Jordan so she can “get everything out into the open.”

The latest legal wrangling came to light Thursday when Jordan and his attorneys filed suit in Crawford County court claiming Miceli is harassing him in violation of a 2005 agreement.

The agreement stipulated that if the second DNA paternity test on Jordan showed he was not the father of Miceli’s son, she would stop trying to contact Jordan.

Miceli has since violated that agreement by phone and e-mail hundreds of times, and Jordan’s court filing indicates that the nature of the e-mails had “become increasingly violent and threatening.” At least one of the e-mails indicated Miceli hoped Jordan would be murdered.

Miceli did not deny writing the e-mails, but said that they were “taken out of context” and were a result of many “miscommunications” between her and Jordan.

Miceli said she has continued to try to contact Jordan because she doubts the validity of both DNA tests, stating that she “wasn’t there” when the tests were conducted. She claims she also felt pressured into signing the agreement that led to the second DNA test, an agreement in which she also agreed to forego future rights of “instituting any legal proceedings alleging that Jordan is the biological father of Dante.” Dante is Miceli’s 3-year-old son.

Miceli, a 1990 graduate of Meadville Area Senior High School, said that she met Michael Jordan in August 1999 during a Jimmy Valvano Golf Charity in Raleigh, N.C.

“I was in the restaurant/bar/dance floor area with friends when one of his bodyguards approached me and said, ‘Michael Jordan would like to meet you,’ ” she said.

Following their meeting that evening, Miceli said Jordan gave her his contact information at Jump, Inc., in Chicago, Ill.

What followed, Miceli said, was an intimate relationship with Jordan.

Miceli said she holds a degree in psychology and has professional experience as an administrator of psychological testing.

With regards to her relationship with Jordan, Miceli said that she has been portrayed in court documents as being “delusional,” a characterization she rejects.

She wants to have the case moved to North Carolina where her son was born and where other lawsuits pertinent to the current suit were filed.

“I want the case moved to North Carolina because that is where all of the witnesses are, and then go from there.”

Having a change in venue would also give Miceli the time that she says her lawyer needs to “address the communication issues” that undergird the suit filed by Jordan.

Contacted to respond to Miceli’s comments Frederick J. Sperling of Goldberg, Gruener, Gentile, Horoho & Avalli, the attorney representing Jordan, issued the following statement: “Due to the increasingly violent and threatening content of the communications, Michael had no choice but to seek legal protection.”

Jordan is not expected to attend the court hearing Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. before President Judge Gordon Miller.



Penni Schaefer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at pschaefer@meadvilletribune.com.