Lehrmann appeal finishes a day early
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The news: Bruce Lehrmann's appeal against findings in a defamation trial that he raped fellow political staffer Brittany Higgins in 2019 concluded in the Full Federal Court on Thursday.
The appeal rejected an application just before lunch by Lehrmann's solicitor, Zali Burrows, to adjourn the case to Friday to give her more time to prepare her reply after counsel for Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson completed their submissions.
The arguments: Burrows said Lehrmann had been denied natural justice because Justice Michael Lee made findings about the rape at trial that were different to those that had been pleaded when he upheld a truth defence.
The bench pointed out that Lehrmann denied any sexual intercourse had taken place and questioned how he would have changed his case. Wilkinson argued that Lee should not have rejected her defence of qualified privilege.
What's ahead: The court — Justice Michael Wigney, Justice Craig Colvin and Justice Wendy Abraham — reserved their decision and said they would notify the parties when they were ready to deliver a judgment. That usually occurs within six months.
The source: Full Federal Court
