Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
"We do not feel there was sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution," said Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz. "Unless a prosecutor has a good faith belief that a person can be found guilty without a reasonable doubt, that person should not be prosecuted."
Krantz said the custody issue is a civil matter and not a criminal one because it hinges on agreements made in civil court between the boy's parents, who are in the midst of a divorce.
Aliff, a former Roanoker who lives in California, turned herself in to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Friday after a warrant was issued by the Bedford County magistrate's office. Her son was placed in the custody of Los Angeles social workers.
The warrant was based on a 1993 court order given to authorities last week by Aliff's estranged husband, ex-William Fleming High School football star Lewis "Rick" Hawkins.
Aliff had their son for the summer. Hawkins told authorities that she did not bring the boy back to Bedford County before the beginning of the school year, as the couple had agreed earlier.
According to Krantz, Hawkins told him the 1993 order, which gave him custody and doesn't mention visitation to California, was the only order pending in the custody case.
However, the 1993 order was later appealed; in 1994, Aliff was given summer visitation rights at her home in Los Angeles. They agreed to the same terms for 1995.
Aliff spent the weekend in a Beverly Hills jail and was released Tuesday after Krantz reviewed the warrant and canceled her extradition. She caught a red-eye flight to Roanoke with her parents and son for Wednesday's previously scheduled custody hearing in Bedford County Circuit Court.
Her attorney, John Lichtenstein of Roanoke, said Aliff had told him she didn't return the child to Hawkins because Hawkins had tried to abduct the boy from her in August. Wednesday's hearing was set to determine if Hawkins had broken his custody agreement, Lichtenstein said.
Roanoke attorney Richard Lawrence, who represents Hawkins, said Hawkins was only trying to check on the child's welfare and hadn't tried to take him from Aliff.
Most of those issues will be discussed at length when the custody case goes to trial Oct. 30. At Wednesday's hearing, Judge William Sweeney ordered that the boy be enrolled in kindergarten in Bedford County immediately, but live with his maternal grandparents in Roanoke County until the custody trial in October.
Sweeney also appointed a court guardian to look after the child and to coordinate unsupervised parental visits.
Aliff, who entered court ducking news photographers and wearing a baseball cap over her long blond hair, gave a tired smile at the end of the hearing. On the attorney's table in front of her, she had a hand-drawn picture of a pirate ship that her son had scrawled in bright Magic Markers during the flight from California.
Across the courtroom, wearing a light gray suit, Hawkins smiled and silently left the court with his attorney at his side. Both Aliff and Hawkins refused to comment after the hearing. The child sat in the commonwealth attorney's office during the hearing and was never asked to testify.
"As far as I'm concerned," Lawrence said afterward, "I'm greatly relieved the court is going to take care of the child and put the child back in Virginia and in a Bedford County school. That was our main thrust for being here today."
Lichtenstein, Aliff's attorney, said: "The court entertained motions today that were brought to help the kid get settled and put the lid on this situation. We're glad that the court examined the best interests of the child and, obviously, that the criminal case will be dismissed."
Aliff was crowned Miss Virginia in 1983. She and Hawkins were wed in 1985.
Their divorce became the stuff of tabloids last year when Hawkins alleged in court records and in an interview with the National Enquirer that Aliff had an affair with comedian Dan Aykroyd. He starred in the 1987 film "Dragnet," in which she had a bit part.
Aykroyd and Aliff both denied the accusation.
by CNB