Bruce Lehrmann will have three days to convince an appeals court to toss out findings he likely raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in parliament house.
The former federal political staffer is seeking to overturn a Federal Court judgment he was not defamed by Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson during an interview with Ms Higgins on The Project in 2021.
Justice Michael Lee found Ms Higgins’ claims she had been raped in parliament house in 2019 were substantially true in a ruling against Lehrmann in April 2024.
But Lehrmann, 29, claims the judgment was rife with errors and launched an appeal which will be ventilated over three days, beginning on Wednesday in Sydney.
The ex-Liberal staffer alleges he was denied procedural fairness because the events found by the judge were “starkly different” from the case run by Ten.
He points to the allegation Ms Higgins had repeatedly said “no on a loop” during the alleged incident, which Justice Lee was not satisfied had occurred.
The case as found by Justice Lee wasn’t put to him during cross-examination for his response, Lehrmann argues.
He says because of deficiencies in Ms Higgins’ evidence, the judge should not have found he engaged in rape.
The judge found Lehrmann had been “hell-bent” on having sex with Ms Higgins and had a mindset of “non-advertent recklessness” which showed he knew she was not consenting.
But that definition of rape has been criticised by Lehrmann, who claims it’s inconsistent with the meaning conveyed to an ordinary person.
Justice Lee is also accused of erring by finding Lehrmann would only be entitled to damages of $20,000 if he had succeeded in his defamation suit against Ten.
Lehrmann’s lawyer Zali Burrows has previously said he should be awarded a seven-figure sum for the “false charge of rape”.
Lehrmann continues to deny he sexually assaulted Ms Higgins and a criminal case against him in 2022 was abandoned without any findings against him.
“Having escaped the lions’ den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat,” Justice Lee said in his decision in 2024.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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