Former soap opera actress Brenda Dickson, who was jailed here last month for not complying with a judge's order in a bitter divorce, still has her freedom, but it appears she'll lose the Los Angeles apartment she says belongs to her.

Part-time Family Court District Judge Darryl Choy issued another bench warrant for the arrest of Dickson after she failed to appear at a court hearing yesterday morning.

But as long as she doesn't return to Hawai'i, it's unlikely that she will be arrested on the bench warrant.

The judge also granted a request by the lawyer for Dickson's ex-husband, Ho-nolulu attorney Jan Weinberg, that essentially will give Weinberg the title to the apartment. He then would be able to have Dickson removed, sell the condominium and split the proceeds with her.

Dickson, 58, was arrested last month on an earlier bench warrant when she returned to Honolulu and spent 16 days at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center for contempt of court for failing to abide by Choy's earlier order directing her to leave the apartment.

She was released Feb. 22 after she promised she would comply with the order. She was supposed to appear before Choy yesterday to explain that she left the apartment.

Dickson called The Advertiser just before the 10 a.m. hearing, saying she was in Los Angeles and had no intention of leaving the condominium. Dickson said she wasn't showing up because she feared she'd be arrested.

She acknowledged that she signed an affidavit and told the judge that she would comply with the order, but said she did so "under duress" so she could get out of prison.

During yesterday's hearing, Weinberg's attorney, Charles Kleintop, told Choy that Dickson did not do anything to comply with the judge's order. He played for the judge a videotape aired this month on the nationally televised show "Extra," in which Dickson told a reporter, "I am not moving from this condo."

Dickson's lawyer, Cheryl Brawley, said the issue of Dickson leaving the apartment should be left to the California courts. She also contested the judge's decision to issue the bench warrant and impose a $1,000 fine payable to Weinberg for each day Dickson didn't comply with the order. The fine is now more than $170,000.

Choy said he reluctantly held Dickson in contempt, but only did so to get her to comply with the order.

The judge also granted Kleintop's request that Dickson pay for his attorney fees and costs related to trying to enforce the court order.

Dickson maintains that the apartment belongs to her as part of an agreement with her ex-husband, but that agreement was set aside during earlier Family Court proceedings.

Dickson has filed an appeal to the Hawai'i appeals courts seeking to reinstate that agreement.

Choy set bail on the warrant at $20,000.

Dickson appeared in "The Young and the Restless" television series in the 1970s and 1980s.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.