The psychiatrist who put up bail for Shirley Turner while she was fighting extradition to the United States on a murder charge has been found to have engaged in professional misconduct.

A College of Physicians and Surgeons disciplinary tribunal heard the case of Dr. John Doucet last month.

Shirley Turner drowned herself and her son, Zachary, while fighting an extradition order.

Doucet was treating Turner – who was fighting extradition to the U.S. in the shooting death of her former boyfriend, Andrew Bagby – in 2001 when he provided $65,000 in sureties for Turner.

Turner, a medical doctor, drowned herself and her son in 2003. Turner had again been released on bail before the drowning, although Doucet was not involved in that bail decision.

At hearings last month, Doucet said that he in retrospect had made an error in judgment, but that he was acting out of compassion for his patient.

• FROM FEB. 27, 2006: Compassion led to bail decision: Turner's MD

The tribunal found that Doucet acted in misconduct by effectively providing the means for Turner to obtain bail.

The decision said Doucet added a dimension to the doctor-patient relationship that should have not been created.

The decision said that circumstance had the potential to cause uncertainty in Doucet's therapeutic relationship with Turner.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons is not commenting until the panel reconvenes and delivers a formal report, expected within two weeks.

Doucet could face sanctions because of the decision. His lawyer will be able to argue on his behalf about any possible penalties.

Turner, a Newfoundland native who had been practising in the U.S., fled to Canada in 2001, shortly after Bagby was shot to death in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania state park.

A warrant had been issued for her arrest by the time she became Doucet's patient.

The Newfoundland Supreme Court ordered that Turner be sent back to jail in 2002, following a ruling that cleared the way for her to be sent back to the U.S. for trial.

Turner was again released on bail, but in that case Doucet was not involved. In August 2003, Turner drowned herself and Zachary Turner, who was 13 months old. Andrew Bagby was the boy's father.

David and Kathleen Bagby, the parents of Andrew Bagby, filed a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

A separate investigation by the office of the Child Advocate is continuing on how social services and other officials handled the Shirley Turner case.