Bruce Lehrmann defamation case: Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyer’s new strategy revealed

Lawyers for Bruce Lehrmann have told federal court that he is available to testify in court for the first time if needed, now that his defamation suit is underway.

Mr. Lehrmann initiated legal action against it in February Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10and reporter Samantha Maiden and News Life Media of News Corp Australia on coverage of Ms Higgins’ allegations in February 2021.

The media companies say the lawsuit is not tenable because it was filed after the one-year statute of limitations, as the article about Ms Higgins – published on February 15, 2021 – is now more than two years old.

All parties to the proceedings made their first appearance in Federal Court on Wednesday afternoon, where Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow, told the court that his client would be available to testify at another hearing on March 16 if necessary.

After questions were raised about why Mr Lehrmann had not brought proceedings for two years, the court was told that he had been advised by a lawyer in February 2021, around the time the article and broadcasts were published not to.

The court heard that he also did not want to file a lawsuit while a criminal case is pending.

Mr Whybrow told the court that his client also struggled with mental health issues because of the alleged defamatory claims.

Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing Lisa Wilkinson, told the court that Mr. Lehrmann had ample time to file the defamation claims.

“He apparently tries to rely on his medical condition from time to time … from a factual perspective, we want to dispute that,” she told the court.

Judge Lee questioned whether it would be problematic for Mr Lehrmann to potentially be cross-examined on multiple occasions, including with regard to extending the application to be heard next week and again at trial.

Mr Whybrow told the court he feared his client would be put under ‘stress and anxiety’ if he were called to testify on multiple occasions.

Mr. Lehrmann had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was on trial in the ACT Supreme Court before it was aborted for juror misconduct.

The charges were subsequently dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions and he has consistently denied any allegation that he sexually assaulted Ms Higgins in Parliament House in March 2019.

He claims the coverage conveyed four false and defamatory meanings that he “raped Brittany Higgins in Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019,” despite not being identified by name.

Both media companies filed their defenses in Federal Court on Tuesday, as did Ms. Wilkinson, who hired her own legal team Ms. Chrysanthou.

Relying on the defense of truth and qualified privilege, Network Ten, News Life Media and both journalists will attempt to prove that Mr. Lehrmann lied to police and raped Ms. Higgins.

Clever tactic Lisa Wilkinson may be using to derail Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against her – as husband Peter FitzSimons hints that the pair are on holiday abroad amid her long absence from Channel 10

By Charlotte Karp for Daily Mail Australia

Lisa Wilkinson could derail Bruce Lehrmann’s libel suit against Channel 10 and news.com.au with a clever legal tactic – as the TV star’s husband hints she may be on holiday in the UK after their year from hell.

The former ministerial staffer is suing the network over an interview broadcast on The Project in which Brittany Higgins first alleged to Ms Wilkinson that she was raped by ‘a male colleague’ in Parliament House in 2019.

According to a claim filed in Federal Court on Feb. 7, Mr. Lehrmann will allege that Channel 10 and Ms. Wilkinson were “reckless indifference to truth or falsehood” when the allegations against him were made.

He is also suing News Life Media – an umbrella company of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation that runs news.com.au – over reporting by journalist Samantha Maiden that raised the same allegations made by Ms Higgins.

Mr. Lehrmann strongly denies any sexual contact with Ms. Higgins.

But there may be a vulnerability in his case — with The Project news report airing two years ago, in February 2021, forcing his lawyers to ask the court to grant a one-year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit. claim.

However, Ms Wilkinson – who is believed to be in the UK with her prominent columnist and author husband Peter FitzSimons – could oppose the extension and cause the case to fall.

The same problem could also arise in the News Life Media case.

According to a warrant filed in Federal Court by Judge Lee on Feb. 17, Mr. Lehrmann to file an affidavit in support of the request for an extension of the March 1 statute of limitations.

Ms Wilkinson, Ms Maiden, Channel 10 and news.com.au then have until 10 March to oppose it.

To get the extension, Mr. Lehrmann’s legal team would have to show that it was unreasonable for him to sue within the first year of publication.

Mr Lehrmann was accused of raping Ms Higgins six months after the interviews aired. Mr Lehrmann had pleaded not guilty at his rape trial in October last year before the ACT High Court.

The trial was aborted in November due to misconduct by a juror. ACT’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, subsequently halted the trial entirely over concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Mr Lehrmann was not mentioned during The Project interview, nor was he publicly identified as Ms Higgins’ alleged rapist until August 2021, when he was formally charged with assault.

However, it is clear that his colleagues in the parliament building knew the allegations against him prior to the criminal charges.

Daily Mail Australia understands that Mr Lehrmann made a settlement offer to Network 10 and news.com.au, but the outlets rejected the offer and promised to challenge the matters.

The case will be heard in court on March 16.

It was revealed earlier in February that Ms Wilkinson and her husband had canceled their star-studded ‘Independence Day’ party after the ‘worst year of their lives’ in 2022.

Ms. Wilkinson’s memoir, It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This, was released earlier in 2022, but was soon drastically discounted at major retailers to just $5.

In June, Ms Wilkinson won a Logie for her powerful televised interview with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who claimed she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House in 2019.

She praised Ms Higgins in her acceptance speech, which led to the trial of Ms Higgins’s accused rapist being postponed.

The fallout led to former and current colleagues and rivals from various networks slamming Ms. Wilkinson.

She abruptly quit The Project in November after four years on the panel, citing “targeted toxicity” from sections of the media as the reason for her departure.

The veteran journalist has not returned to the screens, but is still receiving a “seven-figure salary” from Ten thanks to the “watertight” deal she signed in 2021.

On Sunday, her husband Peter FitzSimons published an interview with London-based royal correspondent Camilla Tominey in the Sydney Morning Herald – saying he had been a “guest” in her country for the past two weeks.