Baby Orphaned by Quake Goes to Cousins : Custody: A judge rejects requests of 2 feuding grandparents of boy, who could be awarded millions in potential damage suits.

In a case that has become a cause celebre in the Bay Area, a judge Thursday rejected custody claims by two rival grandparents involving a 10-month-old boy orphaned by the Oct. 17 earthquake and awarded temporary custody of the baby to his cousins.

The teen-age parents of James Henry (Jimmy) Brown IV were killed in the collapse of a section of Interstate 880 in the Loma Prieta earthquake. Lawyers in the case have noted that the boy’s guardian may oversee several million dollars that could be awarded the boy in a potential lawsuit against the state, which built the two-tier freeway.

The boy’s paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother each claimed the other is unfit for custody. Each claimed the other was only interested in plundering the baby’s potential future fortune, as well as $100,000 he already has been awarded by the state.

The grandfather is a convicted felon; the grandmother is on welfare and currently has four children at home that she cares for.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Roderic Duncan agreed Thursday with a report by county family services officials who recommended that neither grandparent, both of whom are county residents, be granted custody.

In line with the officials’ recommendation, Duncan named the baby’s cousins, Arthur and Tonia Lewis, as his temporary guardians until an April 17 hearing to determine permanent custody. The cousins live in the small Central Valley town of Chowchilla.

Jimmy’s court-appointed attorney, Simone Campbell, agreed with the decision. Noting that the child had been shuttled back and forth between the warring grandparents, Campbell said, “It’s my concern that the child get out of the tension-filled environment where he is now.”

As the feud developed between the boy’s grandparents--Anita Williams, 35, and James Brown II, 37--the Lewises came forward and expressed their interest in obtaining custody of the child.

Neither grandparent seemed pleased with the decision.

Williams burst into tears when she heard the decision and had to be helped from the courtroom. “They’re taking Jimmy away,” she sobbed.

Her attorney, Don Foley, indicated afterward that Williams was not close to her niece, Tonia Lewis. He said the couple had not met Jimmy until his parents’ funeral.

“This (decision) effectively denies the Brown family reasonable access,” said John Burris, an attorney for James Brown II. “It terminates the rights of both families. They just can’t get to Chowchilla.”

Jimmy’s parents, who were unmarried, were James Brown III, 19, and Michelle Marie Richard, 18. They were killed when the Loma Prieta earthquake brought down West Oakland’s Cypress structure on top of their car. Jimmy was riding in another car with James Brown II that was not damaged.

The custody battle between the grandparents developed shortly after the state last year passed legislation entitling children whose parents died in the freeway collapse to payments of $50,000 for each parent. California auditors found that two separate claims for the money had been filed in Jimmy’s behalf, one by each of the grandparents.

Earlier this month, Duncan ruled that Public Guardian, a county agency, would oversee the $100,000 state payment until Jimmy’s 18th birthday.