BY ANA ACLE

 In a weird twist on the Elian Gonzalez saga, Donato Dalrymple, the self-declared rescuer of the boy, asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday to appoint a new attorney to represent Elian because the legal team for the Miami relatives has a conflict of interest in the case.

 Dalrymple singled out attorney Kendall Coffey, saying Coffey's ties to the Democratic Party and the fact he was appointed U.S. Attorney for South Florida by Attorney General Janet Reno might color his judgment.

 ``It's an outrageous statement,'' said attorney Jose Garcia-Pedrosa, another of the Miami relatives' attorneys who ran unsuccessfully against Reno for Dade state attorney in 1984. ``Kendall Coffey has been a magnificent advocate for our position and he continues to be a priceless member of our team. He does not deserve to be treated this way and to be made the object of such an unjust accusation.''

 NO LEGAL STANDING

 Dalrymple's petition will have no impact on the case, however. A court clerk said the petition will not be accepted because Dalrymple is not a party in the case and therefore has no legal standing.

 But the petition offers some insight into how Dalrymple views himself. A house cleaner, Dalrymple was on his first fishing trip when he and his cousin Sam Ciancio spotted Elian clinging to an inner tube last Thanksgiving.

 Since then, he has enjoyed attention from media and supporters of the Miami relatives as the rescuer, though it was actually Ciancio who pulled the boy from the water.

 In the petition, he says he now must rescue Elian again.

 ``I don't fully understand what `standing' means,'' Dalrymple wrote, ``but it seems to me that if anyone has `standing' to point out some facts to this court that you have no other way of knowing and that might help redress a terrible wrong then I am the one to do it.''

 ``I saved the boy once,'' he noted. ``I'm here before you to save him again.''

 FAMILY SURPRISED

 The petition's filing surprised Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle.

 ``He did not consult with anyone on this,'' Gonzalez said, ``and we're the boy's family. He should have talked to the family about this.''

 Dalrymple did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.

 Dalrymple drew up the petition with the help of Miami attorney Jack Thompson, who ran unsuccessfully against Janet Reno in 1988 and is known for his crusades against radio personalities Neil Rogers and Howard Stern, and musical acts 2 Live Crew, Ice-T and Madonna.

 ``Donato and I have talked about this, yes,'' Thompson said.

 Thompson, in articles for newsmax.com, an online magazine, has been critical of Coffey and the legal team's handling of the case. Particularly galling to Thompson is a decision by the team not to file a formal challenge of the legality of the raid.

 Coffey and other lawyers say such a challenge should wait until after the appeals court rules on whether Elian is qualified to apply for political asylum.

 ``Those matters must be brought up at the trial level, not the appellate level,'' said Manny Diaz, another attorney for the relatives and Coffey's law partner.

 ``To imply that we're a clique is nothing further from the truth,'' Diaz said. ``If we had more people on the case, perhaps we wouldn't have so many sleepless nights.''

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald