Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House after a long night of drinking, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee found.
Former Liberal staffer sues Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson about an episode of The Project broadcast in February 2021.
In the interview, Mrs. Higgins She went public with her allegations for the first time, alleging that an unnamed staff member raped her in Parliament in March 2019..
Lehrmann claimed that friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has always maintained his innocence.
While Judge Lee accepted on Monday there was “no doubt” that Lehrmann was identified on the show, he said he accepted the basis of the report.
Federal Court Judge Michael Lee ruled in favor of Network 10 on Monday, finding that the report was truthful in its allegations against Lehrmann.
Network 10 had mounted two separate defenses to its conduct: a substantial truth defense and qualified privilege.
Judge Lee first addressed the qualified privilege defense and determined that it “did not meet the standard.”
That meant Judge Lee had to accept that Ten’s report was, by the civil probability-based standard, objectively correct.
After several hours of explanations, Judge Lee concluded: “Mr. Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins.”
Judge Lee found that, contrary to Mr Lehrmann’s evidence, sexual intercourse did occur and that Ms Higgins did not consent.
“I am convinced that there was sexual relations,” the judge stated.
Judge Lee said Mr Lehrmann was “on top” of Ms Higgins and she was unable to get off the sofa.
Mr Lehrmann was also photographed addressing the Federal Court with his legal team.
“Given all my reservations as to Ms Higgins’ credibility and reliability, I found her evidence that she was unaware of her surroundings and realized when he was on top of her to be convincingly credible and had a ring of truth to it. ,’ he said.
“Ms. Higgins did not consent to sexual intercourse when she realized that Mr. Lehrmann was on top of her.”
He also offered five “key facts” about the night in question, focusing particularly on the unaccounted for 40 minutes in which Lehrmann and Higgins were alone in the ministerial suite. These were:
- 1. They were alone in the suite for about 40 minutes.
- 2. Mr. Lehrmann did not answer six calls from his girlfriend
- 3. He left alone around 2.33 am
- 4. Mrs Higgins was affected by alcohol and fell asleep on the sofa naked.
- 5. There was time for the couple to have ‘intercourse’
In his opening remarks, Judge Lee described the entire case as an “omnishambles.”
He was scathing of both Ms. Higgins and Mr. Lehrmann, describing them both as unreliable witnesses.
‘To say that Mr. Lehrmann is a poor witness is an understatement. Mr. Lehrmann’s attachment to the truth was tenuous,” he stated.
But he attributed much of Higgins’ inconsistencies to trauma.
Lisa Wilkinson arrived at court to receive the verdict this morning dressed all in white.
Wilkinson wore the same suit on February 14.
The month-long trial was held in December and sentencing was initially set for April 4.
However, the matter was reopened in early April after Network Ten successfully argued that there was new evidence from former Channel Seven employee Taylor Auerbach that was not available during the trial.
Auerbach was on the team for Seven’s Spotlight program when he secured exclusive interviews with Lehrmann, which aired in June and August last year.
It was during those two interviews that national television broadcast classified information about Mr. Lehrmann’s criminal proceedings.
The confidential material included private text messages from Ms Higgins and CCTV of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entering Parliament House before she was allegedly raped in March 2019.
The leaked information had originally been collected by the Australian Federal Police during the investigation into Ms Higgins’ rape allegations and was protected by the Harman pledge, meaning it could not be used for anything other than court proceedings.
Auerbach, who left his job at Seven last year, allegedly claimed in his affidavit that Lehrmann was the source of the confidential material.
Lehrmann has denied in court that he was the source of the leaked content, but Judge Lee ruled that he was not entirely truthful about that matter.
Auerbach was cross-examined by Lehrmann’s lawyer, Matthew Richardson SC, during which he claimed that Channel Seven covered Lehrmann’s drug and sex worker costs.
Lehrmann and Channel Seven have denied those claims.
Mr. Lehrmann initiated defamation proceedings after criminal proceedings failed. The judge said of that decision: “Having escaped from the lions’ den, Mr. Lehrmann made the mistake of returning for his hat.”