A formal letter of complaint to the ACT Bar Association penned by Bruce Lehrmann in the wake of his aborted trial for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins has been leaked to media, alleging the conduct of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shane Drumgold effectively denied him a fair trial.
The correspondence, first reported in The Australian on Wednesday evening, argues Drumgold “failed in his unique and special duties as a prosecutor” by allowing his conduct to be motivated by politics.
“I contend that his conduct was driven by malice towards me personally. I also consider that his conduct was political,” Lehrmann said in the letter.
“By these failures, the director has undermined the principle of equality before the law, and importantly, the presumption of innocence and a right to silence.”
Various consequences can attend a finding of professional misconduct, the most common of which in egregious cases is a decision to bar the lawyer from practising either indefinitely or for a fixed period.
To buttress his complaint against Drumgold, Lehrmann’s letter accuses the DPP of breaching his duties as a prosecutor by withholding evidence from his defence team, such as the so-called “Moller Report”, and by wrongly impugning the conduct of the AFP by publicly claiming that it was politically aligned with his defence.
“By doing so, he [has brought] into disrepute his own office, the fine work and reputation of the Australian Federal Police and your members,” Lehrmann wrote.
“His public behaviour continues to smear my name and the presumption of innocence that is the cornerstone of our justice system and that demands him to uphold.”
Lehrmann also claims the DPP failed to take reasonable steps to remove certain high-profile material from public circulation, such as Higgins’ Women’s March speech, the ABC Four Corners report, and the National Press Club address, all of which, he says, conceivably could have had a bearing on a fair trial.
Beyond this, he alleges the DPP failed to warn Higgins and others about the risks associated with public comments before and during the trial, and that Drumgold effectively “defamed” him by suggesting to media that a “successful prosecution was still possible” after the original trial was aborted.
“By giving the statement he did, he undermined the presumption of innocence and advocated for a particular individual (being Higgins) rather than the proper and fair administration of justice,” he said, adding that the DPP appeared to have been “running the public line” that the Australian Federal Police was “helping the defence”.
“I allege that in each instance, and cumulatively, he has engaged in professional misconduct”.
The letter by Lehrmann, who has consistently denied Higgins’ allegations, is the latest twist in the highly charged saga, described by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Wednesday as being “laced with politics”.
Barr’s comments came at a Canberra press conference following the announcement of a formal probe into any potential wrongdoing on the part of police, the DPP and the ACT Victims of Crime commissioner before, during and after the aborted trial of Lehrmann.
The inquiry, to be led by eminent retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC, will in particular focus on Drumgold’s concerns regarding the conduct of police, as well as the circumstances in which a confidential letter containing those concerns was publicly released under freedom of information laws.
On Wednesday, ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury confirmed the scope of the inquiry was intentionally wide, and could “absolutely [extend to] political interference”.
The Board of Inquiry is expected to report to Barr by the end of June.
