Lawyer disciplined for relations with mayor

DETROIT, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- An appeals court has disciplined a lawyer who was overseeing Detroit police reforms, for having "intimate contact" with a former Detroit mayor.

Sheryl Robinson Wood was publicly censured, a mid-level form of discipline, last week by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, The Detroit News reported Friday.

A three-judge panel said Wood acted responsibly when she resigned from the police reform case two years ago after the FBI discovered text messages that pointed to an improper relationship between her and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

"[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.

Wood said she greatly regrets her conduct with Kilpatrick, saying, "At the time I considered it, and since then, to be a moral transgression on my part. 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."