Dukes packs for Dominican Republic without visiting kids

TAMPA -- Elijah Dukes had less than four hours to decide today whether he wanted to see two children he shares with his estranged wife before leaving Wednesday for the Dominican Republic.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey gave Dukes permission over the weekend to spend two hours on Saturday and again on Sunday with the young children he has with NiShea Gilbert, who has filed for divorce from the inactive Devil Rays outfielder.

Dukes never saw the children because of confusion over logistics, his attorney Grady Irvin said in court today. At the conclusion of a status hearing on Dukes' divorce, Carey said Dukes could have until 8 p.m. to decide if he wanted one last visit with his children before leaving to play winter baseball in the Dominican.

Following the hearing, Irvin and Dukes declined to talk about it any further.

In court, Dukes told the judge he no longer wanted to pay child support if Gilbert continued making it difficult for him to visit his children.

"The one thing I will no longer stand for is to pay money for kids I'm no longer able to be a father to," Dukes said. "I'm done. I'm tired of fighting for something that was given to me. I was given the right to be his father when I signed his birth certificate. I was given the right to be his father when she said, 'I'm pregnant.'"

Dukes said he's seen his children three times in the past eight months. Until recently, a restraining order legally kept him from visiting them.

Also during the hearing, many of the same issues about unpaid attorney's fees and other money issues that have dominated the case continued to be discussed.

Catherine Real, Gilbert's attorney, said she still has not received a $20,000 payment for her fees to which Dukes agreed. Irvin said he has the money in a trust account, where he thought it should stay until the case was resolved, because he had concerns of how Real would allocate it for her costs.

Carey ordered that Irvin turn over $10,000 by 5 p.m. Wednesday. The remaining money would be due after the judge has reviewed transcripts of the hearing where Dukes agreed to pay Real $45,000 over a series of installments.

Real also said that Dukes has not paid child support or alimony, which was due Oct. 1. He also did not pay the entire amount for September, she said, leaving him owing Gilbert a past due amount of $7,061, Real said.

On a conference call with Carey about the case on Thursday, Real asked to withdraw as Gilbert's attorney. She cited difficulty with Dukes complying with the judge's orders as one of her reasons.

Today, Real said she came back because Gilbert insisted.

"She's a nice person," Real said.

- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer