Hollywood actress Brenda Dickson's 16-day stay in jail here ended yesterday after two lively court hearings in which Dickson mocked a lawyer with Nazi salutes and told the judge her divorce settlement was "a fraud," but ultimately swore to abide by the terms of her property settlement.

Dickson, 58, was jailed on a contempt of court charge Feb. 6 for failure to comply with the terms of a settlement agreement in her divorce from local attorney Jan Weinberg. Wearing a green velour track suit and shackled at the wrists and ankles, Dickson appeared in Family Court yesterday for hearings before part-time Judge Darryl Choy.

Claiming that Choy's rulings had rendered her penniless and homeless, Dickson asked several times to borrow money from Weinberg's lawyer, Charles Kleintop, and even saluted him several times with the words, "Heil Hitler. Third Reich."

But Dickson ultimately said the words that Kleintop and Choy wanted to hear: that she would stop attempts to block the scheduled $1.37 million sale of a Los Angeles condominium that she and Weinberg jointly own.

Kleintop said outside court: "I sincerely hope that she abides by the court order. But I don't have a lot of confidence that she will."

Featured as Jill Abbott on "The Young and the Restless" soap opera series in the 1970's and '80's, Dickson said she's planning to revive her acting career. She has her own Web site, brendadickson.com, which features photographs of her with a variety of celebrities and announces, "Brenda's Back in Hollywood."

When Dickson was released from custody yesterday afternoon, she said she would immediately return to Los Angeles, in plenty of time to fulfill plans to attend the Academy Awards ceremonies Sunday.

Asked if she had ever played a prison inmate in her acting career, Dickson said: "No I never have. Before I wouldn't have known how. Now I've got a very good idea."

During the morning hearing, when Kleintop was posing questions aimed at showing that Dickson could have taken steps while in jail to gain her freedom, he asked if she had attempted to telephone her lawyers in California.

"Have you ever tried to to make a phone call in prison?" she said.

"I'm too busy trying to survive in prison," Dickson said. "It's a very unsafe place, by the way."

Once free, Dickson took the time to lengthily complain about Judge Choy and Family Court, saying, "These judges here are allowed to make up their own laws."

She called herself "one of many women who've been defrauded by the courts."

Dickson still has legal actions pending related to the divorce case. She wants to overturn an earlier ruling by Choy which required her to pay $1,000 a day in fines to her ex-husband. Those fines, which date back to last year, have amounted to some $160,000 and have been paid from the proceeds of the sale of a Nu'uanu home which the couple had owned.

She has also been required to pay the attorney fees of Kleintop, as well as the monthly mortgage and upkeep costs of the Los Angeles condo.

Choy found Dickson in contempt of court Sept. 20, and issued a bench warrant for her arrest. She was in California, but returned here to help her lawyers file a legal challenge of the contempt order.

By chance, Kleintop saw her at Ala Moana Center, and his office reported her presence here to police, who arrested her.

"I was shocked to see her," Kleintop said. "I just assumed that she would never return to Honolulu with a bench warrant outstanding for her arrest."

Now she has to return to Ho-nolulu again. Choy ordered her to appear at another hearing scheduled March 8.

By that time, the judge told her, she's expected to have removed her belongings from the condo, cooperated in an inspection of the premises, and assisted in closing of the sale of the residence.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.