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Cross-dressing lawyer Miss Alice, aka Rob Moodie, told the High Court at Wellington today his clients' financial circumstances changed significantly after he posted court-suppressed documents on the internet.
Dressed in the same Alice in Wonderland costume he wore yesterday minus the pinafore, Miss Alice represented himself in court facing a contempt allegation.
Dr Moodie officially changed his name to Miss Alice last year in protest against the "Old Boys' network" he says runs the judiciary and now wears women's clothing in court.
The Crown is applying to have Miss Alice held in contempt of court for publishing a court suppressed document in the long-running Berryman saga.
Keith and Margaret Berryman have been fighting to clear their name since bee keeper Ken Richards died in 1994 when an army-built bridge collapsed on their King Country farm.
Miss Alice gave a copy of the suppressed document, known as the Butcher report, which exposed errors in the bridge's construction, to TVNZ in March 2005 and posted another copy on the internet.
He told the court today he became the Berrymans' lawyer after earlier lawyers had agreed upon a confidentiality agreement forbidding the Butcher Report from being copied.
Miss Alice said he went to the High Court with an application for non-party discovery which Justice Warwick Gendall granted, meaning all documents, including the Butcher report, could be given to other parties.
This order was then set aside by Justice John Wild.
Miss Alice said he advised the Berrymans not to appeal this decision due to their financial situation.
After he posted the report on the internet, lawyers in Taupo and Auckland established a trust fund to allow the Berrymans to continue court proceedings.
"The Berrymans' circumstances changed dramatically once the Butcher Report was on the internet," he said.
The hearing is expected to end today.
- NZPA
