Watch live: Judge delivers decision in Lehrmann caseBy Michaela Whitbourn
The Federal Court is streaming Federal Court Justice Michael Lee’s decision in the Lehrmann case. Lee will read extracts of his written judgment from 10.15am in Sydney.
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You can watch the livestream below:
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11.08am
Higgins did not consent to sex, judge finds
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said he was not satisfied Brittany Higgins gave a “clear verbal protest” to Bruce Lehrmann, although he notes that this is not conclusive.
He has already found that Ten and Wilkinson have proven on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann had sex with Higgins. Lee is now considering whether the media parties have also proven it was non-consensual, and whether Lehrmann knew at the time that Higgins was not consenting.
He said Higgins’ evidence about being unaware of her precise surroundings but waking up with Lehrmann on top of her “struck me forcefully as being credible and having the ring of truth”.
He said he had reached a state of “actual persuasion” Higgins did not consent.
11.04am
The three elements of rape that Ten must prove
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said that the natural and ordinary meaning of rape is as follows in the context of this case:
Lehrmann had sexual intercourse with Higgins; Without her consent; andKnowing Higgins did not consent.
11.01am
Judge considers the elements of sexual assault
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee has now made a crucial finding that sexual intercourse took place between Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann on the balance of probabilities, meaning it is more likely than not.
However, he must now consider if he is satisfied that what occurred was rape, meaning sexual intercourse without consent.
“What does one mean by rape in this context?” Lee asks rhetorically.
He said his inquiry is focused on the “natural and ordinary meaning of the word rape … in contemporary Australia”.
10.57am
‘Sexual intercourse did take place’, judge finds
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee is now delivering his findings about what happened in the ministerial suite in the early hours of March 23, 2019.
“I am convinced … that sexual intercourse did take place,” he said.
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However, he did not find that Higgins said “no on a loop”. He said it was “more likely than not” that she was passive.
10.55am
Judge considers potential impact of trauma
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee notes evidence that Brittany Higgins engaged with Bruce Lehrmann the following week at work.
He said this could readily be characterised as the behaviour of a woman attempting to come to terms with what had happened to her and “find some way of coping with such a predicament”.
It did not suggest her allegation of sexual assault was false, he said.
He said the fact that Higgins did not subject herself to a test for sexually-transmitted infections after the alleged assault did not necessarily suggest her account was untruthful. He noted the accepted impacts of trauma on the behaviour of sexual assault victims.
10.49am
Lehrmann aware of Higgins’ drunkenness, judge finds
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee also makes a finding that Lehrmann was aware of Brittany Higgins’ inebriation.
10.47am
Judge strongly suspects further drinking at Parliament House
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said that he strongly suspected Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins did drink more in Parliament House, but it was not necessary for him to make a finding about it.
He has found that Higgins was seriously inebriated and had consumed 11 drinks at The Dock on the Kingston foreshore earlier in the evening. He said she was “comfortably satisfied” Higgins was a “very drunk young woman”.
10.46am
Higgins found naked in ministerial suite
Justice Michael Lee notes that former Parliament House security officer Nikola Anderson told the court last year that she did a welfare check in suite about 4.15am and found Higgins naked on the couch in the minister’s office with her dress on the floor. She recorded the incident in her notebook.
Nikola Anderson outside the Federal Court in Sydney last year.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Lehrmann had left Parliament House about 2.34am.
He had missed six calls from his then-girlfriend. He booked an Uber about 2.31am.
10.43am
‘Sufficient time’ in Parliament House for sex, drinking
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said there was “sufficient time”, approximately 40 minutes, for Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins to continue to drink in Parliament House as well as for “coitus”.
10.41am
Higgins’ account under scrutiny
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee is now scrutinising Brittany Higgins’ account of what happened in Parliament House after she entered Linda Reynolds’ ministerial suite with Bruce Lehrmann.
As noted earlier, he said Higgins gave a false account of why she came back to Parliament House.
Brittany Higgins outside the Federal Court in December last year.Credit: Steven Siewert
Lee points to evidence of a former departmental liaison officer in Reynolds’ office, Chris Payne, who told the court last year that he asked Higgins if Lehrmann raped her, and she replied: “I could not have consented. It would have been like f---ing a log.”
Payne told the court that “they were quite confronting words” and “they stuck with me”. The interaction took place shortly after the night in question, the court heard.
Lee said it was worth noting that Higgins had seemed almost ebullient when news.com.au’s Samantha Maiden had advised her Lehrmann would maintain that there was no sexual contact between the pair at all.
