A Federal Court judge will hand down judgment in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson within days.
Mr Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings following an episode of The Project in February 2021, in which Brittany Higgins made her rape allegations public for the first time in an interview with Wilkinson.
Ms Higgins alleged Lehrmann raped her at Parliament House in March 2019, when they were both staffers working for the Liberal Party.
He was not named on the broadcast, but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has always maintained his innocence.
The trial lasted a month and was heard before Judge Michael Lee in December, with sentencing initially set for April 4 at 10:15 am.
However, the case was reopened last Tuesday after Network Ten successfully argued there was new evidence from former Channel Seven employee Taylor Auerbach that was not available at trial.
On Tuesday afternoon, the court announced that the verdict would now be pronounced on April 15 at 10:15 am.
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured outside court) sued Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson
The defamation suit related to an interview Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) did with Brittany Higgins in February 2021
Judge Lee will give his reasons orally and publish a written judgment on the court’s website.
Ten’s application to reopen the case was based on evidence from Mr Auerbach, who was part of the team responsible for securing exclusive interviews with Mr Lehrmann on Channel Seven’s Spotlight programme.
Mr Auerbach was called to the witness box on Thursday and accused Mr Lehrmann of leaking confidential texts and recordings to Seven ahead of his exclusive interviews, which aired in June and August last year.
The information was originally collected by the Australian Federal Police during the investigation into Ms Higgins’ rape allegations, before parts of it were broadcast during Lehrmann’s Spotlight interviews.
Evidence collected during a police investigation is protected by the Harman Company, meaning it cannot be used outside of a particular legal case unless released by a court.
Mr Auerbach also alleged that Channel Seven paid thousands of dollars to cover Lehrmann’s cocaine, prostitutes and lavish dinners in an attempt to entice him to sign a deal for exclusive interviews.
The network and Mr. Lehrmann have denied these claims.
Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case was reopened Tuesday due to new evidence from former Seven employee Taylor Auerbach
Wilkinson’s lawyer Barry Dean told the court on Thursday that Mr Auerbach’s evidence was to be believed, in part because he “came to this court and made comments freely”.
However, Judge Lee suggested otherwise, saying: “Yes, but there is a question as to why he did that.”
Under cross-examination by Matthew Richardson SC, Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer, Mr Auerbach admitted he “hated” his former Spotlight boss, Steve Jackson.
On Thursday, Judge Lee pointed out that it was unusual for someone to be in the witness box and said he “hates” another person.
“You might rationally form the view that this is a man who was desperate to do as much damage as he could to his previous employer,” he said.
“He is a man who wanted to make a series of allegations against people who enjoy absolute privilege.”
Evidence given in court is not subject to defamation proceedings.
Judge Lee noted that this did not mean Mr. Auerbach was “not a truth teller.”
