An appeals court has disciplined Sheryl Robinson Wood, the lawyer overseeing Detroit police reforms who resigned in disgrace two years ago, for having "intimate contact" with Kwame Kilpatrick when he was Detroit's mayor.
Wood was publicly censured Oct. 13 by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the latest fallout in a costly reform effort that has lasted eight years, fallen short of targets and produced a tawdry scandal.
A public censure is a mid-level form of discipline, less severe than suspension or disbarment. It will be reported to other jurisdictions in which Wood is licensed.
A three-judge panel said Wood took responsibility and cooperated with an investigation launched after she resigned in 2009. She resigned after the FBI discovered texts that pointed to an improper relationship between her and the former Detroit mayor.
"(Wood) did not have any prior disciplinary actions, her conduct did not result in personal gain or negatively or financially impact the monitored cases, and no client was harmed by her conduct," the judges wrote.
City lawyers disagree.
The city has sued Wood in federal court to recover more than $10 million in fees she received. Last month, the City Council agreed to a $350,000 settlement with Wood's former law firms, Saul Ewing LLP and Venable LLP.
Her lawyer, Robert Spagnoletti, could not be reached immediately for comment Friday.
Wood agreed to be publicly censured after being accused of having personal communications and "intimate contact" in early 2004 with Kilpatrick, according to a Sept. 13 report by a D.C. Court of Appeals committee.
Earlier this year, the former mayor confirmed having a one-night stand with Wood.
During a March deposition, which was part of a civil lawsuit Kilpatrick filed against the city's former text message provider, SkyTel Inc., the ex-mayor was asked whether he had an affair with Wood.
"My definition of an affair is some kind of long-lasting relationship," Kilpatrick said. "That did not happen with Ms. Wood, no."
"What did happen with Ms. Wood?" SkyTel lawyer James Shelson asked.
"We had an intimate session one night in a hotel," Kilpatrick answered.
Wood told members of an attorney disciplinary board she greatly regretted her conduct, calling it a "moral and a personal transgression."
"At the time I considered it, and since then, to be a moral transgression on my part," Wood said, according to a hearing transcript obtained by The Detroit News. "And, you know, something that I obviously greatly regret. … I understand certainly now, and have come to understand, that it was also a violation of my duties as a lawyer."
Wood was in charge of overseeing Detroit Police Department reforms.
Detroit police agreed to two court orders and the appointment of a monitor in 2003 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department over alleged police brutality, improper arrests and dangerous jail conditions.
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