A senior police officer has told an inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann she was concerned about perceptions that her officers were colluding with defence lawyers.
Commander Joanne Cameron was in charge of ACT Policing investigations last year, when Mr Lehrmann was tried for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
His trial was abandoned and there are no findings against him. He has always maintained his innocence.
On Thursday, Commander Cameron, who is now in a different role with the Australian Federal Police, gave evidence to the ACT board of inquiry into how Mr Lehrmann's prosecution was handled.
She discussed a phone call she received from one of the most senior investigators on the case, Detective Superintendent Scott Moller, on October 12, 2022 — midway through Mr Lehrmann's trial.
In the call, Superintendent Moller told her he had been phoned directly by Mr Lehrmann's barrister, Steve Whybrow, earlier that day.
Commander Cameron noted in her diary that she told Superintendent Moller the call was inappropriate, and she was concerned about the perception it could create that police had aligned themselves with the defence.
"I was concerned that those perceptions may have already been out in the public domain," she said.
"I was concerned that this interaction might add to it further."
Commander Cameron had returned to ACT Policing as head of investigations in December 2021.
She said that, since she took up the role, there had been consistent criticism of police, alleging they were acting unfairly or inappropriately.
"These sorts of interactions each time they happened … was potentially building these conspiratorial ideas that police were not conducting themselves with the very based core values we all held ourselves to."
Commander alerted top prosecutor
Commander Cameron told the inquiry she shared her concern with ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan, who agreed with her.
She then alerted the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold.
She relayed to the DPP her concerns "about the direct approach to our police officers, some of which were still potentially witnesses for a trial that was midway through its course".
Mr Drumgold sparked the inquiry by expressing several concerns about the case, including his perception of close cooperation between police officers and Mr Lehrmann's lawyers.
"I had never previously seen engagement between police and the defence team as I had in this case," Mr Drumgold told the inquiry.
Later in the evening of October 12, Commander Cameron wrote a follow-up email to the DPP.
"I have advised my staff that all potential, currently nominated or otherwise, witnesses avoid any communication with defence counsel prior to the giving of their evidence in court or, preferably, until the conclusion of the matter at court generally," she wrote.
On Thursday, Commander Cameron accepted there could have been legal problems with that direction, because witnesses in a criminal trial are free to speak to either side.
But she said her frustrations were playing out late at night.
"I accept that, without the context … it would look like it's withholding the opportunity for defence to engage," she said.
"That's not what I mean.
"I reflect now that I may have phrased [it] in perhaps a softer approach."
She will return to the stand tomorrow to continue her testimony.
