A last-minute attempt to reopen Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case will focus on how Network Seven’s Spotlight program obtained thousands of Brittany Higgins’ private text messages.
Former Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach is understood to have sworn a statement claiming Lehrmann was the source of the texts.
Judge Michael Lee was due to deliver his decision in Lehrmann’s defamation claim against Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson in the Federal Court on Thursday.
However, on Sunday, the court revealed that Judge Lee would hear “an urgent interlocutory application by Network Ten to reopen its case” on Tuesday night.
Ten will file an affidavit prepared by Auerbach in which he claims Mr Lehrmann provided Spotlight with Ms Higgins’ texts, news.com.au reported.
A last-minute attempt to reopen Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case reportedly revolves around how Network Seven’s Spotlight program obtained thousands of Brittany Higgins’ private text messages. Mr. Lehrmann appears in the photo.
WhatsNew2Day Australia does not suggest that Lehrmann provided Spotlight with such material, only that Auerbach has made a sworn statement claiming that he did.
Lehrmann’s attorneys previously told Judge Lee that their client did not leak Higgins’ phone records to Spotlight.
Auberach has threatened to sue Lehrmann for defamation over an alleged saga involving a night out and thousands of dollars in Thai massages.
A News Corp article claimed that Auerbach used a Seven credit card to book two Thai massages worth $1,000, one for himself and one for Lehrmann, in the early hours of November 26, 2022.
It was also reported that Mr. Lehrmann stayed a few hours at Auerbach’s home in Elizabeth Bay after the massage and that expenses totaling $2,940 were charged to his corporate card.
The late-night meeting was said to have taken place during negotiations for Mr Lehrmann’s exclusive Spotlight interviews, which aired in June and August last year.
Judge Michael Lee was due to deliver his decision in Lehrmann’s defamation claim against Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson (above) at the Federal Court on Thursday.
It is understood Auerbach used the corporate card without the knowledge of key Spotlight staff. Text messages later emerged showing a senior producer, Steve Jackson, allegedly guiding Auerbach on how to reverse the massage transaction.
However, Lehrmann denied Auerbach’s version of events, telling the media: “It’s a strange and false story from a disgruntled former Network Seven producer.”
Judge Lee adjourned the defamation case in December after a five-week trial in which evidence was heard from former Liberal staffers Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins.
Higgins alleged that Lehrmann raped her inside the Parliament House office of his then-boss, Linda Reynolds, in March 2019.
The allegations were broadcast on Channel Ten’s The Project by Wilkinson in 2021.
Wilkinson’s explosive interview with Higgins later triggered the Lehrmann defamation case.
Lehrmann was not named in the 2021 interview, but claims he could still be identified.
He alleges four defamatory meanings were conveyed in The Project’s report and denies allegations that he raped Ms Higgins.
Lehrmann claims Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson defamed him during an interview with Brittany Higgins (pictured) in which she claimed she was raped in Parliament.
Ten and Wilkinson defended the interview, saying it was true and in the public interest because it involved an alleged sexual assault in Parliament.
Mr. Lehrmann has requested substantial compensation for the alleged damage the interview had on his reputation.
His criminal trial over the alleged rape in October 2022 was previously abandoned after a jury brought outside sources into the deliberation room.
Prosecutors did not request a new trial due to concerns for Ms. Higgins’ mental health.
Judge Lee previously said he would start writing his judgment the day after the defamation trial ended.
More than 15,000 pages of transcripts and 1,000 separate pieces of evidence (including CCTV footage and audio recordings) have been handed over to him since the trial began.
The party that loses the multimillion-dollar lawsuit is expected to appeal the decision.
Judge Lee heard evidence from both Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann about what they claimed occurred in Senator Linda Reynolds’ office in Canberra in March 2019.
Ten is understood to have made an application to reopen the defamation trial after receiving information from former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach (pictured).
Higgins said he went drinking with Lehrmann and some colleagues and returned to Parliament in the early hours of Saturday morning.
She alleged that she woke up on Senator Reynolds’ couch to find Mr. Lehrmann on top of her and that, despite her protests, he continued the assault.
A security guard told the court he found Higgins naked and asleep in the office hours after he left.
Lehrmann has consistently claimed that nothing sexual occurred between him and his then-liberal staffer, and has vehemently denied raping her.
During the trial, Judge Lee watched Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann undergo aggressive questioning.
The credibility of both was successfully attacked.
Lehrmann was caught citing different reasons why he had to return to Parliament after hours, including that he was dropping off documents and that he had returned to drink whiskey.
He told the Federal Court he had added notes back to Question Time folders after receiving information from his co-workers earlier that night over a drink.
It was the first time he was forced to testify under oath in court, as he exercised his right to remain silent during a previous criminal trial, which was aborted due to jury misconduct.
Ten’s lawyers told the court that Lehrmann was a “fundamentally dishonest man” who was willing to tell bizarre and absurd lies to further his cause.
Higgins also admitted that his versions of events had changed over time, including admitting that a bruise in a photograph sent to Ten may not have been caused during the alleged assault.
Most of Lehrmann’s legal team’s arguments focused on Higgins’ claims of a government cover-up to prevent the rape from being reported.
Numerous documents and other evidence were used to show that Ms Higgins did not experience pressure from her bosses to remain silent about what she claimed occurred.
Lehrmann’s lawyers accused her of lying to keep her job after she was found naked at her workplace.
Other witnesses in the libel trial included a colleague who said she saw the couple kissing and touching before leaving for Parliament that night.