A turbulent murder case that cost a Superior Court judge his career took another twist yesterday when a former defence lawyer admitted to professional misconduct and apologized for what was described as the worst display of incivility ever seen in a Canadian courtroom.
Kevin Murphy, 52, was suspended from practising law for six months, but not before a thrashing by the head of a Law Society of Upper Canada disciplinary panel. “You ought to be thoroughly ashamed of yourself,” law society bencher Vern Krishna admonished Murphy.
Murphy, who since 2008 has been employed as a lawyer with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, admitted to verbally abusing witnesses and making unfounded accusations against opposing lawyers at a notorious murder trial that began more than a decade ago in Ottawa.
The woman at the centre of the case, Julia Elliott, was charged with killing and dismembering Kemptville-area mechanic Lawrence Foster, whose body parts were found in the Rideau River in August 1995.
