Davina Murray, disgraced barrister who married convicted murderer Liam Reid, fails to revive legal career

An Auckland barrister struck off after smuggling contraband into prison for her convicted murderer client – who she later married – has failed to resume her legal career.

But Davina Reid says she will appeal against the Solicitors and Criminals Disciplinary Tribunal’s rejection – claiming the decision “reflects the innate prejudice” it has “against criminal lawyers”.

She also claimed she was prejudiced against “any lawyer who is of Maori descent”.

Reid – then known as Davina Murray – was sentenced at the District Court to 50 hours of community service after being convicted of smuggling Liam Reid’s mobile phone, cigarettes and lighter.

Liam Reid is serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of deaf woman Emma Agnew in Christchurch in 2007, and the rape, attempted murder and robbery of a 21-year-old student in Dunedin nine days later.

After Reid was convicted of smuggling, the then Solicitors and Shipping Disciplinary Tribunal found her no longer fit to practice law.

Earlier this year she told NZME she had applied to be reinstated on the Solicitors and Solicitors Roll.

A hearing was held last month during which she told the tribunal she had worn the “cloak of shame” long enough and should be allowed to practice law again.

Reid told the tribunal that she considered being hit by the bar as “manifestly unfair” and that her offense was minor enough to be covered by the Purity Act.

She was employed by Te Whānau O Waipareira – an Auckland-based Māori support service and said if readmitted to the bar she would become the organisation’s only in-house lawyer.

The tribunal communicated its decision to Reid, who shared it with the Herald.

“Redemption is possible: the statutory provision allows recovery,” it said.

“In post-expungement reinstatement applications, the Tribunal must make a predictive assessment of whether the applicant is already a ‘fit and proper person’ to be admitted… Has the shadow passed?”

The tribunal said it considered Reid’s conduct in delivering the killer’s items to prison a “gross breach of trust”.

“And abuse of her privileged position as a lawyer,” it said.

“Ironically, because Ms. Reid professes a desire to advocate for the disadvantaged, her violation has led directly to continued barriers to inmates’ access to their attorneys.”

“Lawyers are delayed in entering prisons due to search requirements. Clients and lawyers are now usually separated by physical barriers in prison interviews.

“This is a significant negative consequence for the legal profession and the clients they serve.”

The tribunal also said the smuggling was not the first time Reed had been in trouble.

There were “three other adverse disciplinary findings” before her conviction.

Her past behavior included “falsely accusing two prison officers of conspiring” to plant the items she had smuggled into the prison on her current husband.

“Something she knew was false was reprehensible, especially for a lawyer,” the tribunal said.

“Two of her previous disciplinary issues arose around her intimate relationship with a different man.

“She was acting for this man in property proceedings, but when their intimate relationship ended she communicated confidential information directly to his ex-wife – who was separately represented.

“This led to the first charge of this relationship.

“The second charge was brought after this ex-partner killed himself. She sent his estate a fee bill for $67,500, while multiple text messages and emails proved she agreed to take the job without fee.

The tribunal said it was “disturbed” by Reid’s “pattern of failing to respect professional boundaries”.

“In her case before us, she paid no attention to this disturbing pattern at all,” it said.

“We have no information about what insight she may have had about this pattern, what steps she took to recognize the triggers and how to avoid it happening again.”

“Another issue that concerns us in our assessment of Ms. Reed’s moral compass is her lack of candor.

“The evasive characteristics evident in her attempts to minimize responsibility and punishment in the criminal case are reflected in her relationship with an Australian employer.”

The tribunal heard that between July and December 2017, Reid worked as a youth worker at an organization in Queensland, working with high-risk youth to ensure rehabilitation and integration into society.

She informed the organization that she had no convictions and subsequently lost her job when her employer found out about her conviction.

“We are unimpressed by Ms Reid’s explanation that she assumed she only needed to disclose any Australian convictions,” the tribunal said.

“It is clear to us that the purpose behind the disclosure requirement will not be territorially limited. Mrs. Reed is an intelligent woman with the capacity to understand what is required.

“This omission from 2017 falls below the standard of integrity and candor we would expect from a person who is fit and proper to be enrolled as a solicitor.”

The tribunal also considered Reid’s claim that she had been subjected to racial discrimination and that her conviction had been “overhyped by the media”, which had “exacerbated public scrutiny and contempt for her”.

“She also feels a strong sense of affront that she has been discriminated against by the courts and the tribunal,” the judgment said.

“She described her treatment, such as the refusal to discharge her without conviction, as ‘manifestly excessive.’

“She says she suffered nine years of ‘torture and abuse.’

The tribunal said it was a “culturally and ethnically diverse panel with a wealth of life experience aware of different social attitudes”.

“We are aware of our country’s history of colonization and the profound impact it continues to have on Māori today.

“There remains institutional racism, as demonstrated, for example, in the racial disparity in the prison population.

“We are aware of racism and we are aware of the harmful nature and effects of negative stereotyping and neglect of the kind that Ms Reid experienced.

“However, we do not share Ms Reid’s view that, in matters relating to her suspension and previous criminal proceedings, she was treated differently to what another person would have received if they had behaved as she did.”

“We accept that her sense of grievance is genuine, but we find it misplaced on these individual issues.”

“If others had done as she did, we would have expected similar results … we find neither a balanced nor an evidentiary basis for her belief that she was treated unfairly by the District Court, the High Court or the Tribunal when she was removed .

The tribunal said Reid was “still unable to fully acknowledge his mistake”, which was an obstacle to “genuine remorse, without which change is impossible”.

“Ms Reid cannot speak about the relevant past with candor. She is trying to minimize her wrongdoing,” the tribunal said.

“Although she said she recognized what she had done was wrong, when asked why it was wrong, her response focused mostly on the unfortunate consequences it had for her and her whānau.

“We leave the view that she mostly regrets being exposed and held accountable.”

The tribunal agreed that Māori, including wāhine Māori, were disproportionately under-represented in the legal profession and that Reid “has a passion for protecting those he sees as underprivileged”.

“Her passion is real. If she were a lawyer, she would be free to take up any cause she chooses, so long as she conducts herself in a manner befitting the requisite fitness and decency,” the tribunal said.

“But she cannot plead as a lawyer unless she can satisfy the ‘fit and proper’ test.”

“The damage she did to the reputation of the profession was serious.

“Although several years have passed since she was suspended, our assessment, looking forward, is that Ms Reid continues to lack a true understanding of these characteristics which have led to her predicament.

“Her record of blurring professional boundaries, over-involvement with clients, flagrant disregard for the law, pushing falsehoods or concealing the truth: taints her ability to convince us that she is now a fit and proper person who should be re-registered.

“She has no real understanding of her faults, continues to downplay them, and lacks compassion for those she has hurt through her character flaws.

“We do not find that she has any genuine remorse for what she has done. Instead, she demonstrates self-interest and regret for the damage she has caused to herself and those around her.

The tribunal also said that Reed’s “relevant character defects still run deep”.

“We do not believe Ms. Reed is safe to practice,” he ruled.

“Unanimously, we are far from satisfied that Ms Reid is a fit and proper person to be enrolled as a solicitor.

“We wish her well in her future endeavours, but her application is unsuccessful and we reject it.”

The tribunal said it did not consider Reid’s private life in making its decision.

“A lawyer should not be popular, nor should he hold conventional views on social or political issues,” it said.

“In the present case, Mrs. Reed’s marriage to a notorious inmate convicted of rape and murder attracted unfavorable press comment.

“Her marriage and this comment are irrelevant to our assessment.”

Reid told the Herald she had instructed her lawyers to appeal the decision.

“The result reflects the inherent prejudice the tribunal has against criminal lawyers and particularly any lawyer who is of Maori descent,” she said.

“The watered down review of tikanga and its relevance to my application was disgusting and the sticking of a Māori symbol on a mainly Pāhekā dominated bench that also had no legal training; and then he provides expert evidence on restorative justice, which is a mistake not only in law but also in tikanga.

Tikanga is the right or proper way of doing things within Maori society – a system consisting of practice, principles, processes and procedures and traditional knowledge.

She vowed to continue fighting to practice law despite the decision.

“And while another ad hominem attack on my mana, I have learned that justice is available to the hardy, the determined, and those who keep up the good fight,” she said.