>
New questions have been raised about Lisa Wilkinson’s brilliant Logies speech on Brittany Higgins delaying rape trial as inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann prosecution opens
- Inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann
- Wilkinson’s Logies speech will be mentioned
Lisa Wilkinson’s ill-fated Logies speech will return to the spotlight as an independent inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann prepares for its first public hearing.
Lehrmann has always denied the allegation that he raped former Liberal employee Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.
The independent inquiry, led by Commissioner Walter Sofronoff, KC, will look into how Lehrmann’s prosecution and subsequent rape trial were handled, with the first hearing scheduled for April 26.
Lehrmann faced a trial in the ACT Supreme Court in October, but the trial was aborted due to jury misconduct.
Prosecutors later dropped the sexual assault charge and decided not to pursue a second trial against him due to serious concerns about Higgins’ mental health.
Lisa Wilkinson’s ill-fated Logies speech about Brittany Higgins (pictured together) will return to the spotlight when an independent inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann is set to hold its first public hearing.
The independent investigation will examine interactions between prosecutors and ACT police regarding Lehrmann’s charges.
The investigation will also look at the decision to start a jury trial in the first place and consider why prosecutors decided not to proceed with a new trial.
Commissioner Sofronoff has been given specific powers to investigate the ‘reasons and motives’ of all those involved in the case and will examine whether the DPP acted for the ‘right reasons’.
It will also look at whether ACT’s director of public prosecution, Shane Drumgold SC, took appropriate steps to prevent potential jurors from viewing harmful material.
This includes the time Wilkinson’s interview with Higgins was nominated for and won a Logie, the aussie informed.
When the TV presenter won the Logie Award for Outstanding News Coverage, which she received for her personal interview with the former ministerial staffer, she came under fire for her acceptance speech.
His speech was nationally televised and forced the postponement of Lehrmann’s trial in the ACT Supreme Court from June to October, with defense lawyers arguing it could prejudice a jury.
In a Channel 10 apology letter to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, the broadcaster said they had misunderstood being warned about the legal consequences of Wilkinson’s speech.
In the letter, Channel 10 executive vice-president Beverley McGarvey claimed that neither the network’s chief legal counsel nor Wilkinson realized they had been warned about the speech in the pre-Logies meeting with Drumgold.
The inquiry will look at how the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann was handled, with the first hearing set for April 26.
“Neither Ms. Wilkinson nor Network Ten’s lead legal counsel present at the conference with the DPP on June 15, 2022 understood that they had been warned that Ms. Wilkinson giving an acceptance speech at the Logie Awards could result in an application to the court to set aside the trial date,’ the letter said.
“Had they understood that a specific warning had been given, Ms Wilkinson would not have given that speech.”
After that memo, the Wilkinson, The Project and Channel 10 programs did not comment on the case, except to provide brief news updates.
Wilkinson was reportedly barred from speaking about the case on air in any capacity.
Both Lehrmann and Higgins have confirmed that they will cooperate fully with the independent investigation.