Bruce Lehrmann kept his face blank as he strolled into Federal Court to challenge findings he raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.
The former federal political staffer is seeking to overturn a judgment he was not unlawfully 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 which his lawyers plan to ventilate in a three-day appeal hearing, beginning on Wednesday.
He arrived at the Sydney courthouse on Wednesday more than an hour before the hearing, wearing his trademark rectangular glasses and navy suit, and carrying a brown briefcase.
The former 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 was not 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 his definition of rape has been criticised by Lehrmann, who claims it is inconsistent with the meaning conveyed to an ordinary person.
The former staffer also challenges the finding that he would only be entitled to $20,000 in damages had his defamation suit succeeded.
Lehrmann’s lawyer Zali Burrows has argued her client was entitled to more than $1 million for the “false charge of rape”.
Lehrmann denies sexually assaulting Ms Higgins. 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.
The appeal hearing before the Full Court of the Federal Court is due to end on Friday, with a decision expected to be months away.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
