BY JAY WEAVER

 Fearing a lost cause in federal court, the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez hope
 to revive their custody claim to the 6-year-old boy in state court to block his
 return to Cuba.

 On Monday, lawyers for the child's great-uncle plan to ask Miami-Dade Circuit
 Judge Jennifer Bailey to hold a major hearing in his custody suit against Elian's
 Cuban father. Lazaro Gonzalez wants a new legal forum to show that the child
 would be harmed if he were raised by Juan Miguel Gonzalez in Cuba.

 ``It is a policy of this state to protect the children in Florida,'' said Laura Fabar, a
 family law specialist on the relatives' legal team. ``Elian is in imminent harm if he
 goes back to Cuba.''

 The legal team shifted its attention to the Miami family court on Thursday after its
 negotiations broke down with immigration officials over their plan to transfer Elian
 from his relatives to his father within a week. Those talks, dominated by distrust
 on both sides, followed a recent federal judge's decision that upheld Attorney
 General Janet Reno's order to reunite Elian and his father.

 Lazaro Gonzalez, who sued Juan Miguel Gonzalez for custody of his son in
 January, could run into another dead-end in family court, and not just because the
 boy was born in Cuba and is still a legal resident there. Reno has declared that
 the great-uncle's custody case carries no weight in the federal immigration
 dispute over whether Elian may apply for political asylum.

 ``In the clash between states' rights and federal rights, federal rights take
 precedent,'' said Miami attorney Richard Milstein, who specializes in family law.
 ``The relatives can pursue custody, but the state proceeding is null and void.''

 In the immigration dispute, Reno found that only Elian's father can speak for his
 son, who lost his mother on a boat journey from Cuba in November.

 The great-uncle, who has been caring for the boy in his Little Havana home, has
 appealed U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore's ruling supporting Reno to the
 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. His lawyers' first court pleadings are due
 Monday, with oral arguments scheduled for May 11.

 But the arrival of Elian's father in the United States Thursday, coupled with the
 fruitless negotiations over transferring the boy to him, left the great-uncle and his
 lawyers looking to return to family court. The reason: Lazaro Gonzalez does not
 want to hand over Elian to the Immigration and Naturalization Service at a location
 other than his home.

 ``There is no legal obligation for him to do so,'' said attorney Jose Garcia-Pedrosa.
 ``That would harm the boy.''

 Garcia-Pedrosa cited a court order issued by Circuit Judge Rosa Rodriguez that
 granted in January emergency custody of Elian to his great-uncle until a full
 hearing could be held on whether the boy would be harmed if he were sent back.

 Her decision, praised by Miami's Cuban exile community, provoked criticism in
 other quarters because Rodriguez never disclosed that her campaign manager
 during her bid for the bench in 1998 was the publicist for the Lazaro Gonzalez
 family.

 After Rodriguez was reassigned to another section of the family court, Bailey
 replaced her and canceled the hearing that had been set for March 6 because of a
 scheduling conflict. Bailey also proposed putting off any action in the custody
 case until the federal immigration dispute was resolved. While attorneys for
 Lazaro Gonzalez did not object to her proposal, Bailey never issued the order to
 delay the custody case.

 After the lawyers file their request for a full hearing on the fitness of Elian's father
 as a parent, it will be up to Bailey to decide whether to conduct it. If she decides
 to wait out the federal court appeal, the INS might turn over the boy to his father
 before that wait is over.

 And if that happens, nothing legally can stop the father from returning to Cuba
 with his son immediately.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald