Custody Decided for S.F. Quake Orphan : Courts: The 10-month-old boy could win several million dollars in a potential lawsuit against the state. The judge set aside claims of four other relatives and awarded custody to ranching couple.

An Alameda Superior Court judge on Tuesday agreed to allow a 10-month-old boy orphaned last October in the Bay Area earthquake to be raised on his second cousin’s cattle and hog ranch in the Central Valley.

Setting aside the claims of four other relatives, Superior Court Judge Roderic Duncan decided to place the boy in the permanent custody of Arthur and Tonia Lewis of Chowchilla, a small Madera County town. The complicated agreement, which gives the other relatives visitation rights in alternate months, followed a recommendation from social workers that the child be placed with the Lewises.

The boy, James Henry (Jimmy) Brown, was orphaned when a section of the double-decked Nimitz Freeway collapsed on his teen-age parents. Jimmy, who was riding in another car with his grandfather, was unharmed. Attorneys in the case have said the child could win several million dollars in a potential lawsuit against the state, which built the freeway section.

The bitterly fought custody case has become a cause celebre in the Bay Area, where local TV stations and newspapers have provided extensive coverage.

The case began as a battle between two competing grandparents who claimed that the other was unfit. Maternal grandmother Anita Williams and paternal grandfather James Brown II accused each other of being interested only in plundering the baby’s potential future fortune.

But the judge surprised both grandparents and their attorneys on March 29 by rejecting their claims and placing the child in the temporary custody of the Lewises. The case was further complicated when custody petitions were submitted by two other members of the Brown family--Maj. Gerald Brown, the boy’s great-uncle, and paternal grandmother Vicki Reed, who is separated from her husband, James Brown II.

In announcing his ruling, Duncan praised all parties for agreeing to the arrangement. The relatives had a three-hour meeting earlier that morning to set aside their differences.

“The families pulled back and realized that their personal wishes were not the most important thing,” the judge said. “Even someone who is 10 months old feels the vibrations of that battle and will often bear the scars for years to come.”

Arthur Lewis and the boy’s attorney both said they hope that the child will now be able to have a quiet, uneventful life.

“I think this is the best possible decision for my client,” said Simone Campbell, Jimmy’s court-appointed attorney. “He won’t have to see me or (the courtroom) again for years.”