Bruce Lehrmann’s legal team has accepted their client’s evidence in his defamation trial against Network Ten was “in a number of respects unsatisfactory”, but not to the extent that he is a “compulsive liar” or had raped Brittany Higgins, newly released documents reveal.
In written closing submissions released by the federal court on Friday, Lehrmann’s legal team also said the defence “significantly and unfairly” overstated the “acknowledged problems” with parts of his evidence.
But in their submissions on his credibility, they accepted it would be open to the court to form an “adverse view” of it.
The defamation trial came to a close before Christmas, after oral submissions from the Lerhmann’s legal team and the defendants, Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
The former Liberal staffer is suing Wilkinson and Network Ten over an interview with Higgins broadcast on The Project in 2021, which Lehrmann claims conveyed the imputation he raped Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
The program did not name Lehrmann, but his defamation action claims he was identifiable in it.
Lehrmann has consistently maintained his innocence.
In the submissions, his legal team, Steven Whybrow and Matthew Richardson, argued he was entitled to “substantial damages”, even if the judge in the defamation trial rejected his denial of having any sexual activity with Higgins.
“Findings that Mr Lehrmann was on occasions dishonest … are a serious matter which reflect poorly on him,” they said.
“But they are a very different thing from the allegation that he raped a young woman, and it cannot seriously be suggested that such findings would mean that the publication of the rape allegation, on national television, caused no or little real damage to his true reputation.”
They wrote Lehrmann’s evidence about the number of drinks bought at the Dock – which was in dispute during the trial – was “less problematic than it was made out to be” and it was not just their client who was “clearly wrong about various details”.
His lawyers also disputed Lehrmann would recall “close details” of his response to then minister Reynolds during a “fait accompli termination process” in April 2019.
They also argued Higgins’ appearance as a witness was “fundamentally dishonest”, and alleged she had “lied repeatedly” and continued to assert “lies even when they became untenable”.
In Ten’s submissions, Matthew Collins KC suggested that if it was found that the pair did have sex – even if it was consensual – then it would amount to “wicked conduct of the highest magnitude” by Lehrmann to launch the defamation case. He argued Lehrmann would have brought the case on a “false factual foundation”, amounting to a “gross misuse of the court’s processes”.
While accepting “successful attacks” were made in cross-examination on the credit of both Lehrmann and Higgins, Collins wrote they were “qualitatively different”.
“Mr Lehrmann was revealed to be a fundamentally dishonest man, prepared to say or do anything he perceived to advance his interests,” he wrote.
“Ms Higgins’ evidence of the sexual assault did not waver and was visibly raw, emotional and distressing. Notwithstanding the inconsistencies in her evidence that she frankly acknowledged, she was overall a candid and honest witness.”
In her submission, Wilkinson’s lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC wrote that Lehrmann “was plainly an unsatisfactory witness”.
“His evidence should not be accepted on any matter of controversy, unless it constituted an admission,” she wrote, labelling Lehrmann an “active and deliberate liar”.
During the criminal proceedings commenced against him in the ACT supreme court, Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent. The trial was initially abandoned due to juror misconduct.
In December, prosecutors ultimately dropped the charge against Lehrmann, saying a new criminal trial would pose an “unacceptable risk” to Higgins’ health.
Lehrmann’s defamation action against Network Ten and Wilkinson ran for five weeks in the federal court in Sydney. Justice Michael Lee has reserved his decision in the matter and is set to hand down a judgment this year.
This article was amended on 6 January 2024 to clarify that it was Bruce Lehrmann’s legal team that argued Brittany Higgins’ appearance as a witness was “fundamentally dishonest”, not the defence.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.
