Custody case may be slowed

 BY JAY WEAVER

 Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Rosa Rodriguez, who made the controversial decision
 of granting emergency custody of Elian Gonzalez to his great-uncle in Miami, is
 no longer handling the case that is pitting family members against each other.

 Michael Chavies, another judge in the family court, has taken over the divisive
 case from her as a result of judicial assignment changes.

 Last month, Rodriguez granted interim custody of the 6-year-old Cuban boater to
 his great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez -- until a hearing on temporary custody set for
 March 6.

 Her decision was praised by Miami's Cuban exile community. But it sparked a
 firestorm of criticism because immigration officials had already ruled the boy
 belonged with his father Juan Miguel Gonzalez in Cuba, and the judge had not
 disclosed her past ties to a political consultant coordinating the local effort to
 keep Elian here.

 The boy lost his mother during a journey from Cuba to Florida in November,
 leading to the battle over his future.

 Rodriguez had paid the political consultant, Armando Gutierrez, and his wife
 Maritza's advertising business more than $60,000 to handle promotions during her
 bid to be elected to the circuit court in 1998.

 Gutierrez acknowledged Wednesday that he had also worked on Chavies'
 successful campaign for the circuit court in 1994.

 ``I handled all of the Hispanic community for him,'' Gutierrez said.

 JUDGE'S HISTORY

 Chavies was first appointed to the circuit court by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles in
 1992. But in the fall of that year, he lost the seat -- only to be reappointed by
 Chiles in 1993.

 Chavies, 50, finally won a 6-year term to the bench in 1994 and is up for
 reelection this fall.

 Chavies assumed control of the Elian custody dispute Feb. 14 after returning to
 his seat in the family court -- a position that Rodriguez had filled during his brief
 rotation to the criminal court.

 Rodriguez, 39, was reassigned permanently to another open seat in the family
 court by Circuit Court Chief Judge Joseph Farina.

 Chavies could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon, with his
 office referring the call to family court spokeswoman Celina Rios.

 ``The case stays with Judge Chavies, unless he recuses himself and the case
 goes back to the blind filing system,'' Rios said, referring to the court's
 computer-based system of assigning cases randomly to judges.

 CASE'S FUTURE

 It remains to be seen whether Elian's custody case will ever be heard in family
 court.

 Lazaro Gonzalez has sued the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami
 federal court, challenging the agency's decision to send the boy back to Cuba.
 Federal court hearings in that case are scheduled for the week of March 6 -- the
 same day as the hearing on temporary custody in family court.

 Lawyers for Lazaro Gonzalez said it is likely the family court hearing would be put
 on hold until the immigration suit in federal court is resolved.

 After making her emergency custody decision last month, Rodriguez took no
 further action in the case. She had promised to appoint a guardian for Elian but
 never did.

 The only other significant family court filing was an affidavit by Elian's Miami
 cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez. In the sworn statement, she said that she had
 spoken with the boy's father Juan Miguel Gonzalez by telephone and he had
 expressed no interest in participating in the family court dispute.