Dukes' wife: Don't turn over records

TAMPA -- Elijah Dukes' estranged wife says she no longer wants his medical records turned over to her attorney.

"I think that this would be damaging to his career and that it would not benefit me receiving this report," NiShea Gilbert, who is seeking a divorce from the Devil Rays player, wrote in a letter to Dukes' attorney.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey had set a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday for Dukes' attorney to give Catherine Real a copy of medical records from Dukes' stay at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.

Real, Gilbert's attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment.

On Tuesday, Real told the Times that she had not received the medical records but stopped short of calling it a violation of the court's order. She declined at that time to elaborate.

Belinda Lazzara, Dukes' attorney, received an e-mail with a 3:13 p.m. timestamp from Gilbert on Tuesday. She attached the letter asking Lazzara to not fax or mail Dukes' Menninger medical records.

Lazzara filed an emergency motion with the court, asking the judge to issue a stay in having to compel production of the records. Dukes was treated for mental issues and drug abuse at the clinic, his attorney has said. Real wants to know the extent of his evaluation and treatment and have an addictions specialist review the clinic records.

Real says the records are a key part in understanding Dukes' mental health as he and Dukes fight for custody over their two young children.

In her letter, Gilbert said she would notify Real of her decision.

"I am sending Catherine a letter today informing her that I just want to go to mediation to get this divorce over," Gilbert wrote.

-- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer