DETROIT -- Chris Webber's attorney asked a federal judge to order a Detroit Free Press columnist to testify at his client's upcoming criminal trial.

In a motion filed Tuesday with U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds, Steve Fishman said Mitch Albom's testimony could discredit prosecutors' claims that Webber received $280,000 from Ed Martin while he played at Michigan.

Edmunds scheduled a hearing on the request for July 8.

The Free Press opposes any effort to compel Albom to testify, executive editor Carole Leigh Hutton said.

"The Free Press remains committed to keeping its journalists off the witness stand," Hutton said. "We don't share unpublished information with anyone."

Fishman said he wants Albom to testify about what he observed while writing about Webber, not to learn anything about the columnist's sources.

The Sacramento Kings' star attended Michigan in 1992 and 1993. He and his father, Mayce Webber Jr., 56, face trial July 15 on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about the money Chris Webber allegedly received from Martin, who died in February.

Mayce Webber's attorney, Robert Morgan, joined in Fishman's request.