Cross-dressing lawyer
hangs up his dress
By AP from thnt.com
Online, February 15, 2007
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(AP Photo/NZPA, Ross Setford)
Rob Moodie,
aka Miss Alice, is seen outside the High Court before facing
contempt charges in Wellington, New Zealand Jan. 30, 2007. The
High Court Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007, found Moodie, a 68-year-old
balding man who appeared in court in dresses and toting a handbag,
was in contempt for circulating suppressed documents outside the
court in one of his cases. Moodie officially changed his name
to "Miss Alice" as part of his protest against the "old boys
network" he said runs the nation's judiciary, and was granted an
award for the most bizarre conduct by a lawyer in 2006 by London's
The Times newspaper. |
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A
male lawyer who appeared in court dressed in women's clothes as a protest
against what he said was New Zealand's overly-masculine judiciary was suspended
Wednesday after being found to be in contempt of court.
The High Court found Rob Moodie, a 68-year-old, balding man who appeared in
court in dresses and toting a handbag, was in contempt for circulating
suppressed documents outside the court in one of his cases.
Moodie officially changed his name to "Miss Alice" as part of his protest
against the "old boys network" that he said runs the nation's judiciary, and was
granted an award for the most bizarre conduct by a lawyer in 2006 by London's
The Times newspaper.
The protest began after a coroner's inquest largely blamed a farming couple for
the collapse of a bridge on their property built by the army.
Moodie obtained documents apportioning much of the blame for the collapse to
faulty wood used by New Zealand Defense Force engineers, and posted the report
on the Internet despite a judge's order it not be distributed.
The High Court on Wednesday found Moodie guilty of contempt of court, suspended
him for three months, fined him and ordered him to pay costs.
Moodie announced after the ruling he would quit the law altogether, and end his
cross-dressing protest because he no longer needed to appear "in a 19th-century
Alice in Wonderland environment that allows pomp, self-importance and deference
to the court to eclipse the truth."
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