KEY POINTS:
Suspended lawyer Rob Moodie, who talked this week of leaving law for good, has decided to remain after all.
On Wednesday, the High Court suspended Dr Moodie for three months, fined him $5000 and ordered him to pay costs.
He was found guilty of contempt of court for circulating documents inadmissible as evidence in the long-running Keith and Margaret Berryman case.
Dr Moodie - who officially changed his name to Miss Alice and donned women's clothing in court as part of his protest against the "old boys network" running the judiciary - said yesterday that he had no intention of paying the fine.
"The court would have been just as well advised to have sent me straight to jail because that's where it's going to end up," he said.
Positive feedback had encouraged him to reverse his decision to remove his name from the roll of barristers and solicitors of the court.
"I've not only had lawyers and members of the public ringing me, telling me to keep going, but I've also had two judges," Dr Moodie said.
"I have the respect of a lot of members of the judiciary. I know they're very fine people and they know I respect them."
Dr Moodie said the unconditional support he had always received from his wife, Sue, and family had continued.
"I thought my wife would have been pleased that I was going to change my work habits but she's made it clear that she doesn't want that to happen. She's involved in assisting me in this practice as well and she wants me to carry on."
The legal wrangle began after beekeeper Ken Richards died in 1994 when an army-built bridge collapsed on the Berrymans' King Country farm.
A coroner's inquest largely blamed the Berrymans for the bridge collapse and they have been fighting to clear their name ever since.
Dr Moodie began representing the Berrymans in 2004. He obtained documents held by the New Zealand Defence Force including the "Butcher report", which detailed the causes of the bridge collapse and apportioned much of the blame to faulty wood used in its construction.
One of the conditions under which the report was provided was that it could not be used as evidence.
Dr Moodie gave a copy of the suppressed document to TVNZ in March 2005 and posted another copy on the internet.
He said yesterday that he was "completely disgusted" with what had happened in the Berryman case.
"This case has gone off the rails, and nobody seems to have the capacity to put it back.
"There are comments in this judgment by the three judges from the full court that must have the Crown thinking about its decision in this," he said.
"The worst of it is, I'm suspended until May - the main case comes up in June. It's set down for hearing, but obviously it can't go ahead in June unless the court is going to appoint a senior counsel to represent the Berrymans.
"I'm not sure they'd be happy about that."
- NZPA
