Updated The Bruce Lehrmann Trials * Justice Lee - "Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins."

[Kurve]

Historical Rape Allegation Against Fmr AG Christian Porter
The Alexander Matters matters

Just a reminder, this is the crime board and we need to be aware that there will be victims of crime either watching this thread or engaging in here from time to time. A degree of respect in all discussions is expected.

LINK TO TIMELINE
CJS INQUIRY
FINAL REPORT – BOARD OF INQUIRY – CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Joint media statement – Chief Minister and Attorney-General

LINK TO FEDERAL COURT DEFAMATION PROCEEDINGS

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

I share the same view, As does the Ten Network who is seeking to ensure their legal bills get paid if their costs are awarded to be paid by Lehrmann.:

https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/bruce-lehrmann-could-be-faced-with-5-million-in-legal-costs/news-story/2e281daff2e9c01c5a924dadf3eb82c9

Channel Ten are also considering applications to uncover third party backers including who might have been paying for his extraordinary legal bills over the last three years.

If those costs were billed they would likely range from somewhere between $500,000- $1 million. Then there’s his costs for the defamation case which are expected to be over $1 million on top of that.

but best not do any naming just yet.

I'd say it's her , Stokes or an Liberal party donor.

 

[BFew]

It would be ironic, if some of the origins of the money that has been funding some of Lehrmann's legal costs, originated (indirectly) from the previous owners of Nine Entertainment's media assets/publications.

 

[Kurve]

Apparantly Bettina Arndt and her anti-feminist group may of been bankrolling Lehrmann.

 

[BFew]

The SMH is today reporting that Lady Penelope is a close acquaintance of Bettina Arndt

More lying rapist failed rescue, than International Rescue.

 

[Festerz]

I'd say it's her , Stokes or an Liberal party donor.

 

[Kurve]

Lehrmann should have kept his head down, that Spotlight gig was a big mistake and whoever it was encouraging and bankrolling him behind the scenes probably has some responsibility for the mess he's ended up in and officially, a lying, flat broke rapist and he'll never be able to shake that off.

I'm relieved that Higgins finally has validation and that Wilkinson's truth defence held up. Women will feel safer to actually speak with much less fear of being attacked by lawyers with threats of defamation.

At the same time, I wouldn't like to see Lehrmann mobbed and attacked in the street. It's possible after this, his lawyer might encourage him to plead guilty at Toowoomba and strike some kind of deal.

 

[BFew]

It's possible after this, his lawyer might encourage him to plead guilty at Toowoomba and strike some kind of deal.

Possibly with only QLD legal aid representing him.

 

[BFew]

Stefano (AFR) labelling Lehrmann as Australia's most famous rapist.

Positively manifesting post-Bruce Lehrmann

Seven’s time in the spotlight keeps getting uglier. Execs, though, are putting out the good vibes.

www.afr.com

'Positively manifesting post-Bruce Lehrmann​

Mark Di Stefano
Updated Apr 16, 2024 – 5.55pm, first published at 5.31pm
...
What a time Seven is having! James Warburton‘s doing a CEO hand-over, late-night text addict Bruce McWilliam’s gone, and when staff aren’t fanning the flames of an antisemitic online horde, the network’s trying to calm them about revelations its newsroom provided material support to Bruce Lehrmann, now Australia’s most famous rapist.

There’s also the advertisers to think about.

Seven West Media’s revenue heavily relies on the country’s blue-chip companies shelling out millions in ad buys to have their brands placed against family-orientated TV such as Farmer Wants a Wife and My Kitchen Rules.

Surely, there comes a point where stink of scandal starts sticking to those commercial relationships. And we’re not the only ones pointing it out.

After former senior ad executive Mat Baxter took to LinkedIn to argue that Seven was “in danger of becoming a liability for clients” because it “doesn’t currently exemplify the qualities [or safety] marketers are looking for”
...'

 

[Mick F]

Higgins was raped in the Minister for Defence's office.

We're probably lucky she didn't ask for $5m because as I've posted in here before that she would get a bit less than what she asked for. She could have got $4m.

HTF she got past reception is anyone’s guess.

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

'After his north-of-the-harbour exodus, he was spotted coming and going from a harbourside mansion in Point Piper owned by Lady Penelope Street, the widowed second wife of former NSW chief justice and lieutenant governor Sir Laurence Street, of the storied Sydney judicial dynasty.'
19 hours ago

Bruce Lehrmann spotted at former chief justice’s Point Piper mansion

The former Liberal staffer spent time at the Point Piper home of late chief justice Laurence Street before Monday’s defamation judgment.

www.google.com

 

[Festerz]

A court confirms that her former political staffer was raped by another of her political staffers in her Parliamentary office and still WA Liberal Senator Reynolds wants her pound of flesh.

Not forgetting that Linda Reynolds denied under oath in Bruce Lehrmann's abandoned rape trial that she'd been informed about a sexual assault allegation in her office - which was subsequently found to be a lie. She HAD been told by her own Chief of Staff.

Vile woman.

 

[CD Xbow]

A court confirms that her former political staffer was raped by another of her political staffers in her Parliamentary office and still WA Liberal Senator Reynolds wants her pound of flesh.

Not forgetting that Linda Reynolds denied under oath in Bruce Lehrmann's abandoned rape trial that she'd been informed about a sexual assault allegation in her office - which was subsequently found to be a lie. She HAD been told by her own Chief of Staff.

Vile woman.

View attachment 1961794

Proving again what a nasty piece of work she is.
She may have misread the room on this one, as you say, bad look suing a women raped on your watch.

Not like she is poor or anything, big fat ministerial pension and all those other benefits. She will get in a year or two what I have to eke out an existence for the last 20 years of my life with.

Greedy and nasty.

Also the good senator seems to have missed a few defamations that have gone awry recently. Toot, toot here comes the Karma bus.

 

[The Sultan]

late to the party here, and this may have been covered already. seeing as the justice called Bruce a rapist, will the DPP re-try the case? he wasn't found not-guilty it was a mistrial due to a juror f*** up

 

[Festerz]

One constant in this thread, especially prior to the defamation trial, was posters criticising Ms Higgins for the way in which she behaved immediately subsequent to her rape. One poster in particular attacking her for not reporting her rape immediately to Police (she waited 2 days before lodging her first report with the AFP before subsequently withdrawing it).

Although it has received very little coverage in the press and social media, one of the most important findings of Justice Lee was in relation to the psychological trauma suffered by Ms Higgins and all rape victims and how that impacts on their subsequent decision making.

Obviously it won't stop future uninformed victim-blaming commentary on social and mainstream media about how a rape victim 'should behave' but it increases the level of public understanding about rape trauma, the deep seated mistrust of police, and the way in which informed court systems are dealing with it.

 

[Festerz]

late to the party here, and this may have been covered already. seeing as the justice called Bruce a rapist, will the DPP re-try the case? he wasn't found not-guilty it was a mistrial due to a juror f*** up

Because the previous rape trial was aborted without a judgement being delivered and the rape charges against Lehrmann have not been withdrawn or set aside, it is open to the current ACT DPP to re-try the case in the light of new evidence which surfaced during the Lehrmann defamation action.

However, immediately after the Lehrmann rape trial was aborted the previous DPP formally announced that his office would not seek to re-try the case due to the precarious mental health condition of Ms Higgins. I cannot imagine that this situation would have changed.

There are issues stemming from the defamation case relating to possible contempt of court issues in the aborted rape trial relating to false statements under oath and the leaking of confidential information to Network 7 that (I hope) may be the subject of further investigation by the AFP and possible charges down the track.

But after the disastrous experience of the Sofronoff Inquiry I doubt the ACT Government has the stomach to revisit the Lehrmann trial yet again.

 

[Lady O]

late to the party here, and this may have been covered already. seeing as the justice called Bruce a rapist, will the DPP re-try the case? he wasn't found not-guilty it was a mistrial due to a juror f*** up

The criteria in a civil case is not as onerous as a criminal case. Balance of probability -v- beyond reasonable doubt.

 

[FIGJAM]

Vile woman.

Proving again what a nasty piece of work she is.

Greedy and nasty.

Do you not see the irony in you both vilifying a woman who you both probably didn't know before The Project interview in pursuing a defamation case? You're practically providing evidence!

In addition, that article doesn't state what Reynolds is prepared to accept when she says "remain committed to fully vindicating my reputation". Apology? Costs? The $400K in Higgins' payout that was related to the false conspiracy? The $6 million that Bruce was supposedly getting from his defamation case?

She makes some good points in the SMH article.

 

[FIGJAM]

The criteria in a civil case is not as onerous as a criminal case. Balance of probability -v- beyond reasonable doubt.

There is also the more recent testimony from Scott Moller, the lead detective in the case has stated that he didn't think that there was sufficient evidence to proceed and get a conviction (again, under the criminal conviction standards).

Police did not believe evidence was sufficient to take Bruce Lehrmann to trial, inquiry hears

AFP’s Scott Moller says he charged Lehrmann on advice of DPP despite investigators not thinking Brittany Higgins’s allegations reached threshold for prosecution

www.theguardian.com

“I didn’t think there was enough evidence,” Moller said. But, based on the DPP’s advice after providing a brief of evidence, “I decided to go ahead [and charge Lehrmann]”.

Moller said there was “a significant amount of pressure” on police to lay charges from “the public, the media, my own organisation”.

“There was a real desire to expedite this process and get Mr Lehrmann before a court.”

Moller said he was troubled that usual processes – such as an internal police “adjudication” of potential charges – were not followed.

“I was concerned about not following our procedures.”

Moller is another victim of the omnishambles, but he didn't put a foot wrong.

 

[faible]

Nothing was “steam cleaned”. The couch was leather.

Carlos Ramos was asked to clean the office where there was a suspected party and said in the criminal trial that was normal practice. He said the place was quite clean.

The conspiracy against Parliament House of a cover up had been forever disproven.

Based on everything we know of Canberra and how politicians act you don't think there's been numerous occasions of 'after hours' activity that have a SOP involving a thorough cleaning and not asking questions because it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets?

 

[sherb]

 

[Festerz]

HTF she got past reception is anyone’s guess.

The security guards gave evidence in both Lehrmann's rape trial and the defamation trial that they were expected to allow entry to authorised pass holders to the building and their offices as required, including if they were intoxicated. Both of them stating that they believed something untoward had happened in Reynold's office on seeing Lehrmann exit rapidly shortly after and discovering Ms Higgins 'passed out' and partially naked on Senator Higgins couch.

These after hours access issues and other procedural failures including the lack of a dedicated HR dept for Ministerial staffers, no independent body to accept complaints, no reporting processes established for Parliamentary staffers and a culture of allowing heavy alcohol consumption in Parliamentary offices were covered in depth in the findings of the independent AHRC inquiry and Set the Standard report, established by former Coalition PM Scott Morrison. And most have been subsequently been fixed as part of an overhaul of Ministerial workplace standards to meet with modern workplace safety legislation.

The failure of the Commonwealth to provide a safe workplace was the core reasoning behind the compensation settlement reached with rape victim Ms Higgins.

 

[faible]

an overhaul of Ministerial workplace standards to meet with modern workplace safety legislation.

Which is pretty damning really. These are the people that are supposed to be running the country.

 

[Festerz]

Which is pretty damning really. These are the people that are supposed to be running the country.

Yep.

The Independent Report provides detailed reports from victims of rampant bullying and sexual harassment taking place in Parliamentary workplaces in the years before and during the period Ms Higgins was raped.

A bloody disgrace for which Scott Morrison led a formal apology from Federal Parliament following the release of the Inquiry Report.

House of Representatives Speaker Andrew Wallace delivered the acknowledgement, saying the parliament had failed to serve as a model workplace for the nation."We acknowledge the unacceptable history of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces," he said.

As Morrison said, the MPs and Ministers of the time are the ones who ultimately bear the responsibility for these failures and the great harm done to staff members.

The damning fact is that there are still deniers who, for political reasons, want to absolve politicians and Ministers of any blame in what has happened here.

 

[FIGJAM]

Based on everything we know of Canberra and how politicians act you don't think there's been numerous occasions of 'after hours' activity that have a SOP involving a thorough cleaning and not asking questions because it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets?

I dunno why we need to jump to "skeletons", but the Canberra bubble is a real thing. Some of the stories of a mate of mine who used to write speeches for Rudd are epic.

I'd be lucky if our hotdesks gets wiped down once a week, but there's nothing too odd about a Parliamentary office getting an out of hours clean.

It's fine that some systemic things need to change, but they're long standing issues related to both sides of politics and were never evidence of a cover up in this matter.

 

[faible]

I dunno why we need to jump to "skeletons", but the Canberra bubble is a real thing. Some of the stories of a mate of mine who used to write speeches for Rudd are epic.

I'd be lucky if our hotdesks gets wiped down once a week, but there's nothing too odd about a Parliamentary office getting an out of hours clean.

It's fine that some systemic things need to change, but they're long standing issues related to both sides of politics and was never evidence of a cover up in this matter.

Because it seems every pollie has done questionable things and the expectation in Canberra seems to be the same as at the AFL - get the rug out and start sweeping.

There seems to be a disagreement between people about what constitutes a cover-up going on here. For you it needs to be a more deliberate specific thing, not just a general policy of sweeping misbehaviour under the rug that in this case, swept a rape under the rug.