In Bruce Lehrmann’s blue notebook: Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyer Sue Chrysanthou grills ex-staff
Bruce Lehrmann scribbled the names of two top actors in a blue notebook confiscated by police – those of Geoffrey Rush and John Jarratt, both men who are suing after being pursued by the media.
The former political aide is suing Channel 10 and news.com.au for defamation over reports they aired in March 2021, in which Brittany Higgins claimed she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by an unnamed man – him.
During Mr Lehrmann’s cross-examination on Thursday, Ten presenter Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, referred to a page in a blue notebook he kept in March 2021 – titled ‘Higgins Matter’.
She said there was a page in the book with the name ‘Wilkinson’ written with a horizontal line and two dashes coming out of it – one dash said ‘Rush’ and the other said ‘Jarratt’.
Both John Jarratt and Geoffrey Rush hired Ms. Chrysanthou in 2021 and 2020, respectively, to represent them in defamation cases similar to Mr. Lehrmann’s. Both actors were accused of rape and sued the media for publishing the allegations.
Speaking of Jarratt, the Wolf Creek star, Ms. Chrysanthou said to Mr. Lehrman: “Did you know that he sued for defamation despite being charged?”
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday, where he entered the witness box for the first time ever
Mr Lehrmann replied: ‘I was aware of his case but was not charged’.
Mrs. Chrysanthou said, ‘I would like to introduce the reason you have given [Rush’s] name was there because he filed a libel lawsuit within a week.”
Mr Lehrmann replies: ‘Not within a week’.
He then went on to explain that at the time he was planning to sue for defamation, but said he did not have the financial means to pay a defamation lawyer.
Mrs. Chrysanthou asked, “You don’t have the financial means to take defamation proceedings now, do you?”
Justice Lee objected to that question and she retracted it.
Instead she asked, You had no idea you could get lawyers without paying them, did you? For defamation proceedings.”
“You thought about a defamation case in March 2021, right?” she continued.
Mr Lehrmann, who seemed visibly uncomfortable, said: ‘I was thinking about it’, before explaining that he was advised not to launch a civil suit at the time.
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured, center, Thursday) made up a version of what happened during a meeting with his attorney for the sake of his girlfriend, Greta Sinclair, the Federal Court heard
An evening in which Lehrmann “poured his heart out” to his lawyer over a glass of whiskey and fired desperate, drunken text messages to his then-girlfriend was the focus of an interim hearing on Thursday.
On February 15, 2021, Mr Lehrmann sat down with his lawyer Warwick Korn in his Sydney office and was furious when Higgins accused him of raping her.
Mr. Lehrmann’s girlfriend at the time, Greta Sinclair, was distraught over the extraordinary televised accusations.
He calmed her down by firing off messages suggesting his lawyer had told him he was a “pawn” and “part of a larger political hatchet.”
During further cross-examination on Thursday, Mr. Lehrmann admitted to Ten’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, that Mr. Korn never said that.
Text messages appeared in which Mr. Lehrmann told Ms. Sinclair that he was having a “glass of whiskey” in Mr. Korn’s office in anticipation of Lisa Wilkinson’s interview with Ms. Higgins on the current affairs show.
“If I’m called tonight, I’m up for millions of slander… (Mr. Korn) said I won’t see the light of a courtroom,” he reassured her.
Later that night, at 10:02 PM, he sent Mrs. Sinclair another message saying: [Mr Korn] continues to take notes though, very professional’.
While being grilled in court, Mr. Lehrmann admitted that Mr. Korn did not, in fact, take notes during their conversation and insisted that he just wanted to make Ms. Sinclair feel good.
“I wanted her to think I had my house in order.”
Mr Lehrmann sent a series of messages to his then-girlfriend Greta Sinclair after the allegations against him aired (pictured). He later told the court that most of them were “made up” to “appease” her because she was upset
Dr. Collins suggested that the meeting with Mr. Korn “wasn’t professional at all” because “you poured your heart out there and drank whiskey” and “Mr. Korn didn’t take notes?”
Mr. Lehrmann admitted, “He wasn’t. Not as far as I remember, no.’
The following day, Mr Lehrmann reported for psychiatric treatment at the Royal North Shore Hospital, where he was placed under ’30-minute’ observation. He told the hospital that he had been “quite intoxicated” the night before.
He then volunteered at a mental health facility and stayed there for 12 days.
Lehrmann was not named in the Channel 10 broadcast or in the news.com.au article, but his claim claims that his identity would have been known in political circles.
Although not mentioned in the Wilkinson interview with Higgins (couple pictured above after their Project interview), Lehrmann’s claim that his identity would have been known in political circles
Mr. Lehrmann’s interlocutory hearing on Thursday dealt with why it took him two years to file the libel suit.
Applicants normally have 12 months from publication to file a libel suit, but Mr. Lehrmann’s suit was filed two years later.
His lawyers argued that it was unreasonable for him to start the case earlier.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the broadcaster and the news website argued that he should not be allowed to file a libel suit because it was reasonable that he had filed the lawsuit within the first year.
The hearing was adjourned until Thursday, March 23.