Bruce Lehrmann v Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson defamation trial ...

Additional information on this topic by Patrick Bell. 

Justice Lee also criticised the efforts of Network Ten to seek a response from Mr Lehrmann.

"He was not living the life of a hermit. He was working for a public relations firm in Sydney."

He also said the team behind the episode should have done more to follow up contradictory information provided about the allegation by the prime minister's office.

"[Producer Angus] Llewellyn, like Ms Wilkinson, started from the premise that what Ms Higgins said about her allegations was necessarily true."

Justice Michael Lee has turned to whether publishing the matter was reasonable.

He found it was not. 

"Defamatory imputations of rape fell short of the standard of reasonableness."

He found this was for a number of reasons.

He took umbrage with the rape allegations being intertwined with a cover up. 

He said Ms Higgins's explanations about how she lost material on her phone, but some select material survived, were implausible. 

He also criticised Lisa Wilkinson's approach to the "bruise photograph".

"The lack of curiosity about investigating the bruise photograph is especially unreasonable given its subjective and objective importance given it was said ... to be physical evidence corroborating Ms Higgins rape allegation."

Justice Michael Lee said Ms Wilkinson was a witness who "did not lack self-assuredness". 

He said she was, unsurprisingly, a polished and articulate witness, given her decades in the professional broadcasting environment.

Justice Lee said Ms Wilkinson was let down by her legal counsel, as she had sought advice prior to giving her Logies award speech — ahead of Bruce Lehrmann's criminal trial.

However, Justice Lee said Ms Wilkinson — with over 40 years of experience as a journalist — should have known the speech was "fraught with danger".

From ABC court reporter Patrick Bell.

Fiona Brown was the chief of staff in the office of Senator Linda Reynolds, for whom both Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins worked at the time of the alleged rape.

Justice Lee said the contemporaneous evidence suggested Ms Brown went "out of her way" to support Ms Higgins at the time.

"To be later vilified as an unfeeling apparatchik … must be worse than galling," he said.

From court reporter Patrick Bell. 

Justice Lee says "nuance is required" when assessing Brittany Higgins's evidence, and he described her as a "complex, and in several respects, unsatisfactory witness".

He said her conduct in 2019 was "not inconsistent with the conduct of a genuine victim of sexual assault".

But he said that evidence must be evaluated in the context of conduct since then, which has included telling some untruths "when it suited her".

Brittany Higgins submitted a photograph of a bruise as evidence of her alleged rape by Bruce Lehrmann.

Ms Higgins says she was crushed in the alleged rape, causing the bruise.

However, she misidentified which leg. 

Mr Lehrmann denies this alleged sexual assault ever occurred.

The original photograph was not provided to the AFP in 2019, Justice Michael Lee said.

Earliest record of the bruise photograph was produced in 2021. 

Despite her evidence, I consider it unlikely there would be "confusion" regarding how she received the bruise, Justice Lee said.

Justice Michael Lee said Ms Higgins's conduct post-2019 was troubling.

"Ms Higgins crafted a narrative accusing others of putting up roadblocks ... [and] having to choose between her career and seeking justice by making and pursuing a complaint."

He said there was too much reliance on speculation, and conjecture.

A brief statement from a Channel Seven spokesperson was released a short time ago: "Mark Llewellyn no longer works for the Seven Network."

Mr Llewellyn was the boss of Seven's current affairs program Spotlight, which negotiated an exclusive interview with Bruce Lehrmann last year.

Details of the program's deal to secure the interview were a key part of the hearings when the case was reopened earlier this month to hear evidence from former Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach.

Brittany Higgins submitted evidence in forms of written submissions to the court.

While Mr Lehrmann's untruths "were all over the shop," Ms Higgins untruths can be put in two categories, Michael Lee said.

Justice Lee said that in 2019, Ms Higgins tried to portray conduct "in a better light ...  but by 2021, and afterwards, most were part of a broader narrative or theme that she and her boyfriend wished others to believe, and it appears others wanted to believe".

From court reporter Patrick Bell. 

Justice Lee has told the court it was unnecessary to make findings about many aspects of former Seven Network producer Taylor Auerbach's evidence.

But he said his evidence suggested Bruce Lehrmann was "less than candid" about the benefits he received while the Seven Network was negotiating an interview with him.

"Given the other matters going to credit in this case, it is an inconsequential point," he said.

Justice Lee has also said he is satisfied Mr Lehrmann has "made, or caused to be made, false representations" about how the Seven Network obtained a range of material it used in the program.

Justice Michael Lee said some of Bruce Lehrmann's false evidence was due to carelessness and confusion.

But he is satisfied he told "deliberate lies".

He's giving examples:

Firstly, there was evidence that Mr Lehrmann found Ms Higgins "alluring".

This attraction informed much of his actions later, Justice Lee said.

When confronted with this inconsistency, Mr Lerhmann said it was "just like the attraction I can feel" to anyone in the courtroom, irrespective of gender, Justice Lee said.

Justice Lee found this as "disconcerting as it was unconvincing".

From ABC court reporter Patrick Bell.

Justice Michael Lee has found Bruce Lehrmann was identified by the episode of The Project.

He said he had "no doubt" he was identified, despite not being named.

He will now consider the facts of the case, and assess Ten's defences.

Justice Michael Lee has said both Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins had credit issues when it came to their evidence. 

He said Ms Higgins was an "unsatisfactory witness" and said describing Mr Lehrmann as a "poor witness" would be an "understatement".

"Allegations of wrongdoing had burgeoned far beyond sexual assault."

Justice Lee said Mr Lehrmann had a "tenuous" attachment to the truth.

Justice Michael Lee:

"This judgment is not written for people who have made up their mind before any evidence was educed ... It is written to set out my factual findings comprehensively and explain my decision."

"I've attempted to ensure as transparent a process as possible."

Justice Michael Lee has resumed reading his judgment.

While we wait. Some analysis from court reporter Patrick Bell. 

If the judge finds Ten did identify Bruce Lehrmann, attention then turns to the broadcaster's defences.

Its first defence is "justification" — meaning the content of its report was "substantially true."

This doesn't mean every single detail has to be true, but the overall imputation — in this case, that Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins — has to be proven.

Since this is a civil case, Ten has to prove the truth of its report to the "balance of probabilities," which would mean the allegation is more likely than not to be true.

That's different from a criminal trial, where the standard is "beyond reasonable doubt."

Importantly, Ten has the "onus of proof" in this case.

That means it can't win just by disproving Bruce Lehrmann's version of events on the night in question; it has to prove its own version.

The Federal Court has officially adjourned the court proceedings while they rectify some "technical issues".

We have experienced some technical difficulties. Will advise re a resumption.

More than 24,000 are still tuned into the Federal Court's YouTube stream.

Our stream will return to the top of the blog when proceedings get underway again. We'll update you as we know more.

Justice Michael Lee began reading his 324-page judgment saying the case and his reasons "have some complexity".

"The underlying controversy has become a cause célèbre. Indeed, given its unexpected detours and the collateral damage it has occasioned. It might be more fitting to describe it as an omnishambles."

The live-stream audio has gone down. However, the video is still playing.

We hope it comes back online soon. Stay tuned ...