from www.tmz.com – Jesse James’ porn star ex-wife has decided she wants to regain custody of their 6-year-old daughter — but she can’t afford to pay the legal costs to get the little girl back.

The woman making the claim is Janine Lindemulder — who lost custody of her daughter Sunny James to Jesse while she was serving a 6-month prison stint in 2009 for tax evasion.

Lindemulder is now a free woman and claims she’s ready to get 50-50 custody back — but she’s too broke to pay a lawyer to handle the case. So, she’s filed documents in Orange County, CA asking a judge to make Jesse spot her a cool $5,000 for legal fees.

But according to the docs, Janine doesn’t think Jesse’s gonna play ball — and expects him to fight her request for 50-50 custody.

Stay tuned …