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Brittany Higgins Will NOT Testify For The Second Day In A Row At Her Accused Rapist’s Trial
- Brittany Higgins trial continues for sixth day after complainant was absent
- The rape trial continued in her absence with a series of other witnesses
- She claimed her former colleague, Bruce Lehrmann, raped her after a night out
- Lehrmann pleads innocent in ACT Supreme Court
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Brittany Higgins has failed to appear in court for the second consecutive day to testify at the trial of her accused rapist after the court heard she was “unavailable”.
Ms Higgins alleges that her former Liberal colleague Bruce Lehrmann sexually assaulted her while she was sleeping in the Defense Secretary’s office in Parliament House, Canberra in March 2019.
Lehrmann has admitted to the ACT Supreme Court that he is not guilty of sexual intercourse without consent.
Ms Higgins was on the witness stand last week and was expected to face further questions this week before her absence was revealed on Monday.
The trial resumed Monday in the absence of Ms Higgins with a series of other witnesses, which continued on Tuesday.
Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins and partner David Sharaz arrive at the ACT Supreme Court in Canberra last week
Earlier in the trial, the court heard Ms Higgins claim that she and Lehrmann had been drinking with colleagues before getting into a taxi together.
They stopped at the parliament. Lehrmann said he had to get something on the way home.
After falling asleep on a couch in the office of former Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds, Ms Higgins claims she woke up when Lehrmann had sex with her and said she told him to stop.
The pair worked as ministerial staff for Senator Reynolds.
Mr. Whybrow noted several inconsistencies in Ms Higgins’ story during his cross-examination, including the fact that she created a timeline of events and circulated it to the media.
Ms Higgins said the file was for the police when she reopened her complaint, but admitted it had also been distributed to journalists.
Former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann arrives Monday at the ACT Supreme Court in Canberra, where he is on trial
Mr Whybrow also urged Ms Higgins as to why she deleted some text messages and photos from her phone before handing it over to the police.
She told the court that she had wiped her phone from photos of her handing alcohol or with politicians.
But she denied doing this to deceive officers investigating her allegations, but to purge her phone of “horrible parts” of her life.
The process is expected to take at least another five weeks.