A major update has been revealed in Bruce Lehrmann’s case in federal court as he continues his appeal against a damning defamation case he lost to Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.
The former political aide is now appealing ‘the full’ verdict of Justice Michael Lee, in which he found on the balance of probabilities that he sexually assaulted Ms Higgins in Senator Linda Reynolds’ office in Parliament House on the morning of March 23, 2019.
Mr Lehrmann has sued Network 10 and Ms Wilkinson over claims made in their 2021 interview with Ms Higgins on The Project.
Following the brutal verdict, he has now appealed to the Federal Court of Justice.
Last week, the court was told that his lawyers had missed the deadline for filing an amended notice of appeal, which was filed on Friday.
According to an update of the Federal Court’s file, Mr Lehrmann’s appeal now focuses on the defence of justification.
He now says that the primary judge ‘erred in upholding the defence of justification’ and in ‘determining that the defendant had proved the defence of justification’.
Mr. Lehrmann also claims that Judge Lee was wrong when he said that if he had won, he would have received only $20,000.
An important update has been revealed in the Bruce Lehrmann case at the Federal Court
Last week, his lawyers failed to meet two key deadlines, including an order to post $200,000 in security for Network 10’s legal fees so the appeal could proceed.
Zali Burrows, Mr Lehrmann’s new lawyer, said the delay was due to a dispute Mr Lehrmann had with his former lawyers.
She had previously asked the court to delay the payment of $2 million to Mr Lehrmann following the defamation loss.
In his appeal filed with the court, Mr Lehrmann alleges that he was denied procedural fairness and challenges Judge Lee’s findings.
Mr Lehrmann has sued Network 10 and Ms Wilkinson over claims made in their 2021 interview with Ms Higgins on The Project.
He also alleged that Judge Lee made findings that were neither raised by Network 10 nor by Ms Wilkinson, nor put to him in cross-examination.
Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied sexually abusing Ms Higgins and continues to maintain his innocence.
In 2022, he was due to appear in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory after pleading not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent.
The trial was stopped due to juror misconduct and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropped the charges over concerns for Ms Higgins’ welfare.
