October 14th 2024.
According to Ten, Bruce Lehrmann should settle his legal obligations before continuing with his appeal against the court's decision that he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House. The network, along with journalist Lisa Wilkinson, are requesting that Lehrmann pay $200,000 to the Full Federal Court before his appeal can move forward. This all stems from Lehrmann's initial lawsuit in response to a February 2021 report on The Project, which featured an interview with Higgins detailing her allegations of sexual assault in March 2019.
During a recent hearing, Ten's barrister, Matt Collins KC, argued that some of Lehrmann's grounds for appeal were "hopeless" while others were only "faintly arguable". Specifically, he pointed to Lehrmann's attack on the Federal Court's findings that Higgins gave compelling testimony about the rape. It's worth noting that the court ultimately rejected Lehrmann's own account of the incident. "In our view, it must be exceptionally weak if it relies solely on questions of credibility," Dr. Collins explained to Justice Wendy Abraham.
Lehrmann does not have the financial means to cover the costs of his appeal, and if he's required to pay $200,000, it would effectively end the case, according to his legal team. In April, Justice Michael Lee ruled that Lehrmann did, in fact, sexually assault Higgins in the office of their then-boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, back in March 2019. As a result, Lehrmann has been ordered to pay $2 million in legal fees to Ten, with his bill for Wilkinson's defense costs still being negotiated.
On top of all this, Lehrmann has also requested that Justice Abraham put a hold on these cost orders while his appeal is ongoing. His appeal aims to overturn Justice Lee's decision, which included a finding that he would have only been entitled to $20,000 if he had prevailed in his lawsuit. It's worth mentioning that the 29-year-old continues to deny the sexual assault and is not currently facing any criminal charges in relation to the incident, as his trial was halted due to juror misconduct.
In the event that you or someone you know needs support, the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counseling Service can be reached at 1800RESPECT.
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