Two censored words in a significant ruling in the case of the alleged rapist of Brittany Higgins, which deal with allegations that other women had complained about Bruce Lehrmann’s behavior, may be read in full.
The sexual assault accusation against Bruce Lehrmann was dropped on Friday, according to Shane Drumgold, the director of public prosecutions for the Australian Capital Territory.
A retrial would endanger Ms. Higgins’ mental health, according to medical opinion given to Mr. Drumgold.
Due to Ms. Higgins’ allegations that Lehrmann sexually assaulted her in Minister Linda Reynolds’ Parliament office in March 2019, Lehrmann won’t be put on trial again. He consistently refuted the charge.
Following the development on Friday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum lifted a number of non-publication restrictions on the case that were put in place to shield a jury from bias.
One order concerned two sentences in a decision that Justice McCallum had earlier this year issued.
In that decision, Mr. Lehrmann’s attempt to have the trial dismissed before it ever started was denied.
Lehrmann’s defense team had argued that he had endured negative publicity before to the case and could not have received a fair trial.
The deleted passages, which may now be released, dealt with the judge’s worries over press reports that said “other women” had come forward to report Lehrmann’s alleged prior sexual assault or harassment of other women.
The most damaging information, in my opinion, is the information exposing that other women had come forward with similar accusations after hearing the complainant’s claims, Justice McCallum said in her written statements to the court.
“Those pieces came out early, long before the accuser was identified and charged.”
There weren’t many articles that covered the subject.
The relevant media outlets have voluntarily deleted the content to the degree that it has been found in the evidence.
Even though the articles were voluntarily taken down before the trial, the chief justice did not want the jury to decide Lehrmann’s destiny based on new claims that had not been presented to a court.
Those portions of Justice McCallum’s decision, which finally determined that the matter was not “too far gone” to go before a jury, were subject to a non-publication order.
During deliberations on October 27, a jury member in Lehrmann’s first trial brought illegal research materials into the jury chamber.
Prior to being completely dismissed today, the case was provisionally re-listed for a second trial on February 20.
Even though Mr. Lehrmann enjoys the presumption of innocence and has always vehemently rejected Ms. Higgins’ allegations, legal affairs commentator Chris Merritt said Sky News that withdrawing the prosecution against Mr. Lehrmann implies that the matter will never be completely addressed.
The action, according to Mr. Merritt, is the “worst conceivable consequence” since it leaves important concerns unresolved.
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