October 14th 2024.
According to Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, Bruce Lehrmann should settle his debts before moving forward with his ill-fated appeal regarding the accusations of raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House. The news network and Wilkinson are requesting that Lehrmann pay $200,000 to the Full Federal Court before his appeal can be considered.
The 29-year-old initially filed a lawsuit after a report on The Project in February 2021 featured an interview with Higgins discussing her claims of sexual assault in March 2019. However, during a recent hearing, Ten's representative Matt Collins KC stated that some of Lehrmann's grounds for appeal were "hopeless" and others were only "faintly arguable." He specifically pointed out Lehrmann's attack on the court's findings that Higgins gave convincing testimony about the rape, while Lehrmann's version of events was dismissed.
Dr. Collins emphasized that this argument is exceptionally weak, as it hinges on matters of credibility. Additionally, it was revealed that Lehrmann does not have the financial means to cover the costs of the appeal, and if he is ordered to pay $200,000, it would put an end to the case. This further highlights the importance of settling his financial obligations before proceeding with the appeal.
In April, Justice Michael Lee ruled that Lehrmann had sexually assaulted Higgins in the office of their former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, at Parliament House. The court found this to be true based on the balance of probabilities. As a result, Lehrmann has been ordered to pay $2 million in legal costs to Ten, and the costs for Wilkinson's defense are still being determined.
Lehrmann has requested that Justice Wendy Abraham suspend these cost orders while the appeal is ongoing. His appeal aims to overturn Justice Lee's findings, including the fact that he would have only received $20,000 if he had prevailed in his lawsuit. It's worth noting that Lehrmann has denied the allegations of sexual assault and is not facing any criminal charges related to the incident, as his trial was aborted due to misconduct by a juror.
If you or anyone you know is in need, support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT.
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