JORDAN HEARINGS OPEN, OPENED TO PRESS

Pre-trial hearings in the strange murder case of James Jordan -- father of basketball great Michael Jordan -- will be open to the media, a North Carolina judge ruled. On the first day in a Robeson County courtroom, state Supreme Court Judge Gregory Weeks decided the press coverage of the early rounds wouldn't prejudice all potential jurors. This afternoon, attorneys for Larry Demery -- one of two 19-year-old men accused of shooting Jordan last year as he slept in his car -- fought to see police dental records that supposedly identify the unrecognizable corpse. In the meantime, the lawyers contend Jordan faked his own death to escape debts and a threatened palimony suit.