Auckland lawyer Davina Murray struck-off for smuggling contraband to rapist, murderer she married applies to practice law again

Lawyer Davina Murray in the courtroom at the Auckland District Court after she was charged. Photo / File

An Auckland woman who lost her legal career after smuggling an iPhone, cigarettes and a lighter to a convicted rapist and murderer has launched a bid to return to the profession.

In February 2015 the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal ordered that Davina Valerie Murray be struck from the Roll of Barristers and Solicitors.

The decision followed Murray's conviction under the Corrections Act for delivering an Apple iPhone, cigarettes and cigarette lighter to her client in Mt Eden Prison.

That client was Liam James Reid who is serving a life sentence for raping and killing deaf woman Emma Agnew in Christchurch in 2007, as well as the rape, attempted murder and robbery of a 21-year-old student in Dunedin nine days later.

Murray - who has since married Reid and now uses his last name - was subsequently sentenced to 50 hours' community work for her offending.

Liam James Reid says he is an innocent man and has been wrongly convicted. Photo / NZH

The tribunal ruled that Murray's conviction "reflected her fitness to practise while bringing the legal profession into disrepute".

She confirmed this week that she had applied to be restored to the Roll of Barristers and Solicitors.

"Justice is my passion," she told the Herald.

"I have a lot to offer the marginalised in society interfacing with the justice system.

"I was legally entitled to apply after being struck off after a period of five years had passed.

"Seven years have passed and it's time."

If her application is successful she hopes to focus her practice on criminal law and "miscarriages of justice which arise from a very broken system".

"I am eligible and able to make a difference in the profession I have trained in," she said.

When asked what she would say to those who thought her application should not be granted given her past offending, she said: "no comment".

"I would like the opportunity at a later time to discuss my views in detail," she said.

"It's not appropriate until further legal submissions are made in this application."

The application has been made in her married name.

Davina Murray soon after she was charged with smuggling items into prison for convicted rapist and murderer Liam Reid. Photo / NZH

After her conviction, the New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) declined to renew her practising certificate.

Then-president Chris Moore said the offending had "seriously threatened the easier access lawyers get to their clients in prison compared to that given to other visitors".

"Ms Murray's actions were a flagrant disregard of the mutual trust and respect between a lawyer and prison authorities," Moore said at the time.

"The access rights lawyers enjoy are privileges which must be strongly respected and honoured by lawyers as they support our whole justice system."

Moore said the abuse of that relationship had "brought the legal profession into disrepute".

"It also caused a review of prison security and has resulted in increased restrictions on visits between lawyers and prisoners," he said.

"The Tribunal decision is fully justified."

Murray filed her application on May 31 and paid a $320 filing fee.

She will now file submissions and supporting documents to the application.

The NZLS has 20 days to file any opposition or "no submission".

If issues are raised a teleconference will be held and next steps decided.

Reid's case and convictions were covered in Herald podcast A Moment In Crime.

He was convicted and sentenced for the rapes and murder in 2008.

He has always maintained his innocence and says police got the wrong man for both the Dunedin rape and Agnew's horrific murder.

In 2009, an appeal against his conviction was dismissed in the Court of Appeal.

In 2012, the Supreme Court also dismissed Reid's application to appeal further.

But in 2018 he told the High Court at Auckland during a civil case against a television production company that he was hopeful that a new bid for freedom will be successful.

At the time court documents stated that Reid intended to reopen his case and seek a further appeal or retrial.

Emma Agnew was murdered in Christchurch by Liam James Reid. Photo / Supplied

He argued that the show the production company was making about his case could present a "real risk of prejudging matters or issues that are to be imminently before the courts".

"I have always maintained my innocence in relation to the Christchurch matter and the Dunedin matter," Reid said in an affidavit.

The production company's lawyer stated that although it was "technically possible" for someone in Reid's position to reopen a conviction - it was "highly speculative as to whether there will be another appeal or a retrial".

"There is no application before any court in relation to his convictions and he has exhausted all of his appeal rights," he submitted.

Reid's case was unsuccessful.

Justice Kit Toogood said Reid had a "fundamental flaw" in his application.

"There is no appeal and there is no proceeding in which contempt of Court or any application of a sub-judice risk can be considered," he said.

"[Reid's] case has no prospect of success and I order that [the civil case] be struck out."