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Teary Dukes, wife move toward compromise
An injunction is partially removed after the embattled Devil Ray breaks down in court.
By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published September 18, 2007
TAMPA - A court battle between Elijah Dukes and his estranged wife lost some of its steam Monday.
The frustrated Devil Rays player broke down in tears and told Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey he no longer wanted to fight NiShea Gilbert for custody of their two children.
As Carey urged the pair instead to continue working on an agreement for "joint parenting," Gilbert said she no longer feared Dukes would harm their children and asked that a domestic violation injunction barring him from seeing them be dropped.
"I heard he's going to therapy and is back on his medicine," Gilbert said in court. "If that's something ongoing, he's a wonderful father."
Gilbert's change of heart worried her attorney, Catherine Real, who asked the judge to keep the injunction in place because Dukes' attorney had yet to turn over medical records about his mental health.
"Do you believe he is a threat to you?" Carey asked Gilbert.
Gilbert paused, then said, "I don't know."
In the end, the judge decided to drop the injunction as it relates to the children and amend one that keeps him away from Gilbert. The two can now have contact by phone or in person only if they're making plans for Dukes to see his children or if they're spending time with them together.
Earlier in the hearing, Dukes disapproved of the alternative, which would have required another person to supervise his visits with the children. Real said that would have been a good first step.
"She's sitting there letting this lady manipulate her to break up the family," Dukes said of Gilbert taking advice from Real.
He suggested at one point that Gilbert have full custody because she wanted to be "mommy and daddy."
Before Dukes' show of emotion over custody prompted the judge to take a short break, Devil Rays attorney Brad Kimbro addressed questions about the player's medical history and whether the team had records of steroid tests.
"I'm disappointed that there seems to be some confusion about the Devil Rays' position," Kimbro said. "We're not trying to hide any steroid issue."
Although the team doesn't test for steroids, Major League Baseball does, Kimbro said. Had Dukes ever tested positive for steroid use, MLB officials would have suspended him and made that public, Kimbro said.
At a hearing in July, the judge ordered that Dukes' attorney give Real medical records from Dukes' visit to the Menninger Clinic in Houston. Dukes' attorney has said his client was treated there for emotional issues and drug abuse. Real wants to know the extent of Dukes' evaluation and treatment.
Real had subpoenaed the Devil Rays and team therapist Vincent A. Lodato for Dukes' medical records. Both then filed objections with the court.
On Monday, the judge gave Dukes' attorney until 5 p.m. today to provide Real with the Menninger medical records. Any undisputed records that Real has requested but not received should be given to her by the end of the day Sept.24, the judge ordered. Any medical records or other team documents the Devil Rays consider confidential will first be reviewed by the judge. He will then decide whether to turn them over to Real.
And during Monday's hearing, Dukes agreed to pay Gilbert's legal fees, which Real said have totaled about $45,000 so far. The judge wants Dukes and Gilbert to mediate their divorce case by the end of the month.
Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.
[Last modified September 18, 2007, 13:24:43]
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