Shaquille O'Neal Vs Former Mistress: Trial Date Set

By Jen Heger - RadarOnline.com Assistant Managing Editor

A trial date of next March has been scheduled for a lawsuit that was filed against NBA star, Shaquille O'Neal by his former mistress, Vanessa Lopez, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

Lopez filed the lawsuit against O'Neal in Orange County, Florida, for intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault. Lopez claims Shaq started harassing her shortly after she told him she thought she was pregnant. She says the former NBA center initially accused her of sleeping with someone else and when she broke off their relationship, she claims the threats began. Shaq tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but was denied.

EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Read The Court Docs Here

In court docs obtained exclusively by RadarOnline.com, the trial date has been set for March 25, 2013, and the trial is expected to last 3-4 days. The case has been referred to mediation, which is always done before a civil trial begins in Florida. It's expected that both O'Neal and Lopez will testify. A pretrial conference is scheduled for March 18, 2013.

In the suit, Lopez claims she was the victim of a number of scary incidents -- most notably a threatening text that Shaq allegedly sent to a friend of his saying, "dis is da numba shut dat b*tch up!"

Lopez says the friend responded with a text saying, "consider it done famo."

The friend then allegedly jumped on a plane to Orlando, Florida, and texted Lopez before calling her on her cell, sounding "menacing and sinister."

"Shaq wants to become the General Manager of the Orlando Magic and a public trial could very much harm his career and his legacy. Lopez's lawyers feel that there is more than enough evidence to convince a jury of the allegations that she has made against him," a source previously told RadarOnline.com.

Compounding matters, there's a motion filed by Lopez's famed attorneys, Gloria Allred & Nathan Goldberg, to allow the trial to be televised.

"Vanessa wants the public to know exactly what Shaq did to her and she is looking forward to the day of taking the stand and telling a jury of her peers exactly what happened," the insider says. "She wants him to be treated just like anyone else, it's just about the truth, period."

HOTOS: Vanessa Lopez Modeling Pics

In the papers, Lopez claims that Shaq's family was in on the intimidation act as well, making her fear for her safety.

Lopez, who's seeking unspecified damages, claims Shaq's 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-8 sisters made verbal and physical threats against her.

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