When an Australian judge made the unusual decision to reopen a blockbuster defamation trial brought by an alleged rapist against a media company, he declared, “Let sunlight be the best disinfectant.”
That’s how claims later described by Justice Michael Lee as “sordid” found their way into the public sphere, giving a startling insight into the way producers from a major television network allegedly secured an interview with the former government staffer with illicit drugs, sex workers, a golf trip and expensive meals.
The defamation case enthralled the Australian public when the main parties took the stand last year, and anticipation was high for a ruling on Thursday. But the arrival of a new witness saw thousands tune in to watch the reopened case as it was broadcast live on YouTube.
The origins of the story date back to 2019, when government staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House after a night of drinking in Canberra. The man she accused of the crime, Bruce Lehrmann, vehemently denied any sexual activity took place, and in court he pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
But the trial was abandoned in 2022 due to juror misconduct. Rather than requesting a retrial, prosecutors dropped the charges, saying more court action would pose an “unacceptable risk” to Higgins’ health.
That left Lehrmann with no means to disprove the allegations, so he took defamation action against media companies for their initial reporting of the case.
Two outlets settled the claim by paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs. But Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson chose to fight it using a truth defense – essentially tasking their lawyers to prove on the balance of probabilities that Lehrmann did rape Higgins.
Comments:
Leave a Reply