LUMBERTON, N.C. — For more than 25 years, the man identified as the triggerman in the death of Michael Jordan's father has repeatedly declared his innocence in the murder.

Now he's going before a judge to lay out evidence he says proves that although he helped dispose of the body, he didn't kill James Jordan in the early-morning darkness one July day in 1993.

"I had nothing to do with this man losing his life, period. I wasn't connected to the murder. I came in after he was already dead. ... The way I look at it is: I denied his family the right to a proper burial because of what I did," Daniel Green said last week in an interview at the Lumberton Correctional Institution in Robeson County, the same county where Jordan was killed.

Daniel Green, who is serving a life sentence for the July 1993 death of former NBA basketball star Michael Jordan's father James Jordan, listens to questions during an interview at the Harnett County Correctional Institute in Lillington, North Carolina, on Aug. 20, 2010. Sara D. Davis / AP file

Jordan was killed July 23, 1993. His body was found 11 days later in a South Carolina swamp. It wasn't identified until dental records confirmed it was James Jordan. His body had been cremated except for his jaw and hands, which were saved for identification.

On Wednesday, Green goes to court, where defense attorney Chris Mumma and prosecutors from the state attorney's general office will argue whether he deserves an evidentiary hearing that could lead to a new trial. Mumma says this is the first time a judge will hear all evidence gathered by the defense. The state Court of Appeals upheld his conviction in 1996, as did the state Supreme Court in 1999.

I don't think anybody knows the truth about what happened to James Jordan — the state or the defense.

Green was convicted of first-degree murder. His friend, Larry Demery, testified that Green pulled the trigger and killed Jordan in a roadside robbery gone wrong. Both are serving life sentences.

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Green, 44, was 18 when Jordan was killed. He's probably best remembered for a video in which he rapped while wearing an NBA All-Star ring and gold watch that Michael Jordan gave to his father. Green says he got the jewelry while disposing of the body.

Superior Court Judge Winston Gilchrist will hear the arguments in Lee County court in Sanford. Defense filings make various claims. Several people say they saw Green at a family cookout at the time Jordan was killed. Other issues deal with blood-evidence testimony, the handling of Jordan's shirt, and ineffective trial and appellate counsel.

Green said Demery left the cookout to meet someone for a drug deal and he refused an invitation to accompany Demery. Green said he was just out of prison for a conviction that was later vacated, and a girl "was kissing on" him so there was no way he'd abandon that opportunity.