JAY WEAVER AND MARIKA LYNCH

 On the eve of a court hearing to decide Elian Gonzalez's fate, his warring Miami
 relatives got together Monday for the first time in months and one ended up in
 the hospital.

 Meanwhile, today a new judge was assigned to Elian's case. U.S. District Judge
 K. Michael Moore was randomly picked by computer and said he would not have
 a problem holding to the schedule set earlier, according to Chief U.S. District Judge
 Edward B. Davis.

 Elian's great-uncle Manuel Gonzalez, who believes that the boy should be sent back
 to his father in Cuba, told reporters outside his Little Havana home that he felt "very
 agitated'' over the conflict with his relatives, who want to keep the 6-year-old here.

 Moments later, city of Miami paramedics arrived and wheeled him out in a stretcher
 -- his right hand over his heart, his lips quivering -- as TV news cameras gathered
 around him.

 Humberto Martinez, a translator for Gonzalez's attorney, said the great-uncle felt
 numbness in his left arm and was having heart palpitations. Emergency crews
 checked him and found his blood pressure normal, but he went to the hospital for
 further tests and was later released.

 ``He's very close with his family,'' Martinez said. ``And he's worried what the
 Cuban community here will think. He wanted to work it out with family -- between
 brothers.''

 It was yet another bizarre twist in the saga of Elian Gonzalez, who lost his mother
 on a tragic boat trip from Cuba to Florida and is now caught in a bitter immigration
 dispute in federal court. On Sunday, the case's presiding judge, William M.
 Hoeveler, suffered a stroke. Now another judge has been assigned to the
 controversial case.

 The long-awaited lawsuit to block Elian Gonzalez's return to his father in Cuba is
 expected to get under way in federal court in Miami today. The first hearing will
 focus on whether the court has jurisdiction to decide the suit filed by Elian's
 Miami relatives, who want immigration officials to give him a political asylum
 hearing.

 U.S. District Chief Judge Edward B. Davis said the newly assigned judge in the
 case will be announced today, but he declined to say who it is.

 ``We're going to have a judge in place who doesn't have a recusal problem,'' Davis
 said.

 He was referring to problems that other judges have had with the high-profile
 immigration case because of their past professional relationships with political
 consultant Armando Gutierrez, who is the spokesman for the Miami relatives who
 want to keep Elian here.

 Davis said he did not expect the new judge to be able to hear the arguments on
 the court's jurisdiction today, but indicated the suit should be resolved under
 Hoeveler's original schedule by the week of March 6.

 ``This case should be moved along expeditiously,'' Davis said.

 In December, Elian's Miami great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez had asked the federal
 government to hear Elian's application for admission and asylum. But on Jan. 5,
 the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled that only the boy's father, Juan
 Miguel Gonzalez, can represent Elian's interests. And the father wants him back
 home in Cuba.

 That provoked attorneys for the boy's relatives to sue the INS on grounds that
 even as a refugee who was not legally admitted into this country, Elian still has a
 constitutional right to an asylum hearing.

 The INS, backed by Justice Department lawyers, counters that the court has no
 power to force the federal agency to hear Elian's case because the INS has
 absolute say in the matter and the father has already withdrawn his son's asylum
 application. If the court sides with the INS -- that federal and international law
 favors the father's rights -- Elian's future in the United States could be short-lived.

 The legal battle over Elian's future, followed all over the world, has taken
 unexpected turns. The latest occurred Sunday when Hoeveler suffered the stroke
 and was admitted to HealthSouth Doctors' Hospital.

 Neurologist James Stewart said Monday that the stroke happened on the left side
 of Hoeveler's brain, affecting the right side of his body and his speech. Stewart
 added that while the judge was showing positive signs of recovery, it was still too
 early to determine how long he would stay in the hospital.

 On Monday, Manuel Gonzalez met for an hour and a half with Elian's relatives,
 including Lazaro Gonzalez, Delfin Gonzalez, Marisleysis Gonzalez and cousin
 Georgina Cid, at the Little Havana home where Elian is living.

 Neither side was willing afterward to talk about the meeting. Manuel Gonzalez,
 who is seeking temporary custody of Elian in federal court, said he wanted to
 keep the exchange among the family members private.

 Lazaro Gonzalez and his family, through their spokesman, Armando Gutierrez,
 declined to comment on anything.

 Gutierrez called the meeting with Manuel Gonzalez ``a family summit.''

 ``The attorneys said `no comment' today,'' Gutierrez said. ``They want to keep
 quiet until the hearing.''

 Herald staff writer Eunice Ponce contributed to this report.