A senior police officer who investigated Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation will front an independent inquiry into how the justice system responded to her case.
The inquiry was set up by the ACT government after accusations by police and prosecutors about each other’s conduct during the high-profile investigation and trial.
Australian Federal Police detective superintendent Scott Moller will front the inquiry on Monday.
Supt Moller was involved in investigating Ms Higgins’ allegation her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her after a night out in 2019, inside the Parliament House office of then coalition minister Linda Reynolds.
Mr Lehrmann denies the allegation and faced a trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
Juror misconduct meant a verdict was not reached and prosecutors later dropped charges against Mr Lehrmann due to fears about the impact of a second trial on Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Supt Moller will give evidence after the territory’s chief prosecutor told the inquiry police had a “passion” for the case against Mr Lehrmann to fail.
Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold accused senior police officers involved in the case of having a “skills deficit” and believed they had lost their objectivity during the investigation.
He also said there were tensions between his office and police about the credibility of Ms Higgins but he believed many of the points raised by officers were not admissible in court.
But Mr Lehrmann’s defence lawyer Steven Whybrow disagreed with Mr Drumgold’s assessment of police behaviour and claimed it was the prosecutor’s office who had been hostile towards police.
Mr Whybrow said he did not believe police had undermined the case and rather “looked at everything” whether it suited Ms Higgins’ or Mr Lehrmann’s account.
Senior Constable Emma Frizzell and Commander Michael Chew are expected to give evidence at the inquiry later in the week.
– AAP
