(July 22, 2013)
Editor's note: The office of Michael Haber, who was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times as being Siohvaughn Funces-Wade's attorney in the report mentioned below, reached out to CBSSports.com to say that they have not represented her since July 2012.
-----
This is just all kinds of depressing, but here we are.
Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, Dwyane Wade's ex-wife, walked out to the street outside the Circuit Court in Chicago where one of several lawsuits she has filed against her former husband is being litigated and sat down with a sign that read "NBA Miami Heat star, mother of his children on the streets."
She then ranted to the media about what has happened in the courts between her and Wade. Funches-Wade lost custody of the couple's two children after their divorce, and is claiming she only received a fraction of child support over a six-year period. She was also jailed earlier this week by the Circuit Court judge for appearing late to a hearing. From the Chicago Sun-Times:
After a grueling week of court developments in which Funches-Wade sought to fire her attorney — her legal representation paid for by Wade, she has gone through 12 lawyers — and a week in which she was arrested by Circuit Court Judge Thomas Carr for appearing late in court, she’d had it.
Leaving Friday’s hearing, Funches-Wade plopped down on a mat outside the downtown courts building with her sign and her sister and mother at her side supporting her.
“Dwyane Wade is offering to pay only some of what he owes me if I sign an agreement never again to discuss what happened in our marriage or with our children. I refuse,” the ex-wife said. “I finally told Carr I just wanted to end the case and keep my freedom and my voice. I told him I didn’t want anything from Dwyane. The judge demanded the trial continue. I couldn’t believe it.”
Wade’s attorney, James B. Pritikin, could not be reached for comment. In court Monday, however, Pritikin had refuted Funches-Wade’s charges against Wade, saying of her ex-husband, “His position is that she has issues, and she needs to deal with those issues.”
Funches-Wade said the judge arrested her because she came to court late from taking a final exam for her law school program. Then, her lawyer went behind her back and dropped a lawsuit she filed against Wade over proceeds from the NBA champion’s endorsement deals, she maintained.
She also claimed her lawyer negotiated a settlement agreement without consulting with her or gaining her permission. Her attorney, Michael Haber, could not be reached for comment.
Haber earlier this month had filed a motion asking to leave the case, but ended up continuing as her lawyer. He represents her both in criminal court and on the child custody case.
This is pretty awful for everyone, no matter what. If Funches-Wade is right, then no one's listening to her and it's clearly started to affect her mentally and emotionally (go watch the video over at the Sun-Times for evidence of that.). If not, then she's pretty much trying to publicly embarrass Wade into more money.
The worst part in all this has to be the couple's children, watching this all play out in public.
The battle goes back a year, including this unfortunate story our own Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com wrote about last year.
