The ACT's chief prosecutor has accepted he should have done more to correct media reporting about journalist Lisa Wilkinson's speech to the Logies ahead of the trial of Bruce Lehrmann.
Wilkinson's lawyer Sue Chrysanthou today said her client faced the "utter destruction" of her reputation as a result of the reports.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shane Drumgold made the admission to an ACT board of inquiry that is examining how criminal justice agencies handled the case against Mr Lehrmann, who was accused of raping Brittany Higgins in 2019.
Mr Lehrmann has maintained his innocence and there have been no findings against him after the trial was abandoned.
Lisa Wilkinson spoke at the Logie awards on June 19 last year upon winning the award for most outstanding news coverage or public affairs report.
The speech was reported and discussed on radio, and subsequently triggered a stay in proceedings.
Media reports at the time claimed Wilkinson had been given a clear direction not to give the speech, which she disputes.
'I didn't give this the attention it should have deserved': DPP
Today Wilkinson's lawyer Sue Chrysanthou referred Mr Drumgold to a letter sent to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum the day after the trial was delayed.
"Neither Ms Wilkinson nor the Network Ten Senior Legal Counsel… understood that they had been cautioned that Ms Wilkinson giving an acceptance speech at the Logie Awards could result in an application being made… to vacate the trial date," the letter read.
Mr Drumgold has accepted he gave an undertaking to tender the letter in court as an exhibit — which would have then made it publicly available for media to use — but did not do so.
"This was the opportunity, wasn't it, in court to correct what was being said about my client, which was something you knew to not be true," Ms Chrysanthou said.
"I now accept that," Mr Drumgold said.
"I didn't give this the attention it should have deserved."
Ms Chrysanthou claimed the media reports were damaging to Wilkinson's reputation, and took issue with Mr Drumgold's claim that he didn't see them.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"You didn't walk past a newsagent and see big colour photos of my client saying 'reckless journalism' and things to that effect?"
What did the DPP advise?
Mr Drumgold has conceded he only told Wilkinson that any publicity could delay the trial, and in evidence earlier this week accepted he should have given a more precise direction.
The DPP told the inquiry he believed Wilkinson would understand from his advice that she shouldn't make any comments if she won the award beyond thanking the judging panel.
"Why didn't you tell her that?" Ms Chrysanthou asked.
"Because she had a lawyer sitting next to her," Mr Drumgold replied, claiming he expected the Network Ten lawyer to put his words in context.
"In hindsight, I should have," he said.
"To my mind the reasonable person would have clearly walked away from that meeting with that view [not to give the speech]."
Ms Chrysanthou described Mr Drumgold's evidence as "irrational".
"After the fact, you're trying to justify your failing," she said.
The inquiry has adjourned until Monday morning, when it is expected to hear from Mr Lehrmann's barrister during the trial, Steve Whybrow.
