Defamation

The Project producer Angus Llewellyn has testified that Bruce Lehrmann was given a reasonable chance to respond to rape allegations made by Brittany Higgins, and dismissed as “ridiculous” the suggestion that he indicated to Higgins and her partner David Sharaz that he was going to “do a number” on Lehrmann. 

The judge overseeing the trial in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten intervened on Wednesday during cross-examination of The Project producer Angus Llewellyn, apparently dissatisfied with Llewellyn’s response when asked whether he believed Brittany Higgins’ partner David Sharaz had a “political agenda”.

A court has heard a secretly recorded conversation between Brittany Higgins and her former boss, Senator Michaelia Cash, which presenter Lisa Wilkinson says is consistent with Higgins’ account that she told Cash in October 2019 about her alleged rape by Bruce Lehrmann, a claim that Cash has denied.

The judge overseeing the trial in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten has granted Lehrmann’s bid to subpoena Sky News Australia for an audio recording said to capture a conversation between Brittany Higgins’ fiancé and her solicitor.

Billionaire Kerry Stokes and Nine-owned Fairfax are fighting about how to calculate costs for Ben Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation case after the Seven West Media chair agreed to foot the legal bill on an indemnity basis.

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins told a colleague she “could not have consented” to a sexual encounter with Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House, a court has heard.

A lip reading expert who has examined CCTV footage of Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins on the night of her alleged rape at Parliament House must give evidence in person, with a judge saying if the expert needs an interpreter for cross-examination it could affect the weight given to his evidence. Lehrmann is suing Network…

Seven West Media chair Kerry Stokes has agreed to pay the costs of Ben Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation case, sparing the billionaire from producing thousands of emails exchanged with Roberts-Smith’s solicitors about the case. The Stokes-owned Australian Capital Equity has acquiesced to a third-party costs order sought by Nine-owned Fairfax, according to a Federal Court order…

The judge overseeing Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten has allowed the broadcaster to rely on an expert report from a lip reader who interpreted CCTV footage of Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins on the night of her alleged rape in Parliament House.

An ACT police officer who handled Brittany Higgins’ sexual assault allegation against Bruce Lehrmann has told the court that police encountered significant “pushback” in their attempts to secure CCTV footage from Parliament House on the night of the alleged rape.