A judge has questioned the relevance of an ex-Seven producer’s “sordid” evidence that the network rewarded him after using company funds to buy sex workers for the accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann, saying both sides had made strong arguments against his and Brittany Higgins’ credibility.
A judge hearing Bruce Lehrmann’s reopened defamation trial has expressed concern about evidence regarding non-parties to the lawsuit, including a solicitor who is said to have acted for Seven, saying “allegations are being thrown around like a gatling gun”.
A former Seven producer has given fresh evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial that he was alarmed when the accused rapist purchased cocaine and sex workers and agreed to give an interview to Spotlight as long as he was not asked about the night at the centre of the allegations.
Network Ten has won a bid to reopen its defence in a defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, just two days before a judge was set to deliver his decision, after a former producer at Seven claimed the accused rapist lied about leaking thousands of pages of text messages between Brittany Higgins and her former partner.
Author Peter FitzSimons is seeking costs from Bruce Lehrmann for complying with a subpoena in the former Liberal staffer’s defamation case against Network Ten and FitzSimons’ wife Lisa Wilkinson over the network’s airing of allegations that Lehrmann raped ex-colleague Brittany Higgins.
Did Bruce Lehrmann rape colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019? That is the primary question in the case to be decided by the Federal Court early next month, and the credibility of the two principal protagonists is central to answering that question.
A judge preparing to deliver his decision in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Ten has sought clarity from the TV network on submissions addressing alleged inconsistencies in Brittany Higgins’ settlement deed with the Commonwealth, querying whether the alleged rape victim should be recalled to the stand.
The court might find Bruce Lehrmann’s story implausible, but that doesn’t mean Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape is the only possible alternative to what happened in Parliament House five years ago, Lehrmann’s lawyers have told a court.
Newly released emails show a prominent silk describing Brittany Higgins’ refusal to assist Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou as “at the least unwise”, amid a dispute over the TV presenter’s decision to hire her own legal team in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case.
A judge has found that Lisa Wilkinson acted reasonably in ditching Network Ten’s legal team in a defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, noting the “distrust” between the presenter and her former employer as well as other matters, including a retainer Ten’s solicitors had with The Australian newspaper.