Judge finds Bruce Lehrmann DID rape Brittany Higgins: Here’s what Federal Court Justice ruled happened inside Parliament House – including five key facts

Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House after a long night of drinking, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee has found.

The former Liberal staffer sued Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson during an episode of The Project, broadcast in February 2021.

In the interview, Mrs Higgins made her allegations public for the first time, claiming an unnamed staffer raped her at Parliament House in March 2019.

Mr. Lehrmann claimed that friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has always maintained his innocence.

While Judge Lee on Monday accepted there was “no doubt” Mr Lehrmann was identified in the programme, he said he accepted the basis of the report.

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee ruled in favor of Network 10 on Monday, ruling that the report was truthful in its allegations against Mr Lehrmann.

Network 10 had mounted two separate defenses to their conduct: a substantial truth defense and a qualified privilege.

Judge Lee first addressed the qualified privilege defense, ruling that it “did not meet the standard.”

That meant that Judge Lee had to accept that Ten’s report was factually correct, based on the civil probability standard.

After several hours of explanation, Judge Lee concluded: “Mr. Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins.”

Judge Lee found that, contrary to Mr Lehrmann’s evidence, sexual intercourse occurred and that Ms Higgins did not consent to it.

“I am convinced that sexual intercourse took place,” the judge said.

Judge Lee said Lehrmann was “on top” of Ms Higgins and she was unable to get off the bench.

‘Taking into account all my reservations about Ms Higgins’ credibility and trustworthiness, her evidence that she was unaware of her surroundings and became aware while he was on top of her struck me as powerfully credible and as a speaker of the truth. ,’ he said.

“Ms. Higgins did not consent to sexual intercourse when she noticed Mr. Lehrmann on top of her.”

He also presented five “important facts” about the evening in question, focusing on the 40 missing minutes when Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins were alone in the ministerial suite. These were:

• 1. They were alone in the suite for about 40 minutes
• 2. Mr. Lehrmann did not answer six phone calls from his girlfriend
• 3. He left alone at about 2:33 am
• 4. Mrs. Higgins was affected by alcohol and fell asleep on the couch while undressed
• 5. There was time for the couple to have ‘coitus’

In his opening statement, Judge Lee described the case as a whole as an ‘omnishambles’.

He was scathing about both Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann, describing them both as unreliable witnesses.

“To say that Mr. Lehrmann is a poor witness is an understatement. Mr. Lehrmann’s attachment to the truth was weak,” he said.

But he attributed many of Ms Higgins’ inconsistencies to trauma.

The trial lasted a month and took place in December, with the verdict initially scheduled for April 4.

However, the case was reopened in early April after Network Ten successfully argued that there was new evidence from former Channel Seven employee Taylor Auerbach that was not available at trial.

Mr Auerbach was part of the team on Seven’s Spotlight program when it secured exclusive interviews with Mr Lehrmann, which aired in June and August last year.

During these two interviews, secret information about the criminal trial against Lehrmann was broadcast on national television.

The confidential material included Ms Higgins’ private texts and CCTV footage of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entering Parliament House before she was allegedly raped in March 2019.

The leaked information was originally collected by the Australian Federal Police during the investigation into Ms Higgins’ rape allegations and was protected under the Harman Undertaking, meaning it could not be used for anything other than legal proceedings.

Mr Auerbach, who left his job at Seven last year, claimed in his affidavit that Mr Lehrmann was the source of the confidential material.

Mr Lehrmann denied in court that he was the source of the leaked content, but Judge Lee ruled that he was not entirely truthful in the matter.

Mr Auerbach was cross-examined by Mr Lehrmann’s barrister, Matthew Richardson SC, in which he alleged Channel Seven covered Mr Lehrmann’s drug and sex worker costs.

Mr Lehrmann and Channel Seven have denied these claims.