Brittany Higgins, Bruce Lehrmann trial: Case against accused rapist to be closed

Prosecutors will today close their case against the former Liberal party staffer accused of raping Brittany Higgins following an explosive day of evidence.

Ms Higgins claims her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in the parliamentary office of former defence minister Linda Reynolds in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

He has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of sexual intercourse without consent and is being tried in the ACT Supreme Court.

In a dramatic day in court on Monday, Senator Reynolds was called to the witness stand and accused of trying to interfere in the trial by requesting a copy of Ms Higgins’ transcript of evidence from Lehrmann’s defence lawyer. 

Prosecutor Shane Drumgold told the court Ms Reynolds sent the first message to defence lawyer Steven Whybrow at 4.27pm on October 6.

Brittany Higgins (pictured) claims her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in the parliamentary office of former defence minister Linda Reynolds in March 2019.

Senator Linda Reynolds was called as a witness for the prosecution in the ACT Supreme Court trial, but admitted to texting a defence lawyer while Ms Higgins’ was being cross-examined.

The message read: ‘Hi do you have the daily transcripts? If so, are you able to provide my lawyer?’

She sent another text one minute later: ‘Also if you have text messages between Brittany and Nicky they may be revealing.’

‘Nicky’ refers to Nicole Hamar, who was called to the witness stand last week.

Ms Reynolds was called as a witness for the prosecution, but she admitted to texting the defence lawyer while Ms Higgins’ was being cross-examined.

She told the court that she was not seeking to coach the cross-examination of her former staffer, she was simply ‘curious’ about what had been said in court.

Advised by her lawyer that it was ‘inappropriate’ to access a transcript, Senator Reynolds said she did not receive one.

The former defence minister also told the court she thought a message exchange between Ms Higgins and Ms Hamar might ‘shed some light’ on the allegations.

Former attorney-general Michaelia Cash (pictured with Ms Higgins) was one of the first witnesses at court on Monday

Mr Drumgold suggested Senator Reynolds was politically invested in the case.

He put to Senator Reynolds that if she was motivated enough to attempt to interfere when there was not an election on the horizon, her dominant concern when Ms Higgins first raised the complaint in 2019 would have been the impending election.

‘Absolutely not. I categorically and utterly reject that assertion,’ Senator Reynolds said.

She was also asked why her boyfriend was sitting in the back of the courtroom during the first week of the trial, but told the court he did not give her any information about what was happening in court. 

Senator Reynolds also denied knowing details of Ms Higgins’ claims when she met with her about a week after the alleged rape.

She said that, at the time, she only knew about the security breach resulting from two staffers – Lehrmann and Ms Higgins – accessing the ministerial suite after hours.

She also recalled Ms Higgins saying she ‘couldn’t remember what happened’ during the meeting – which was held in the office Ms Higgins alleges she was assaulted in.

‘She said she woke up the next morning and got dressed. It was at that point that she was a little more distressed and at that point I thought, I’m not the right person to be talking,’ Senator Reynolds told the court.

Bruce Lehrmann is pictured arriving in ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday morning. He has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins

‘If she can’t remember what happened, she’s distressed and getting dressed, I said to her – I’m not the person to be having this conversation.

‘I knew we had (Australian Federal Police agent) in the building so I suggested to her that she might rather have this conversation with someone more qualified.’

When speaking about what she knew about Ms Higgins’ claims in the weeks following, Ms Reynolds told the court she learned about most of the claims on February 15, 2019 – when The Project and News Corp ran stories about the alleged rape.

Earlier on Monday, Senator Michaelia Cash – Ms Higgins’ ex-boss – told the court that Ms Reynolds’ office had received a media inquiry about Ms Higgins in October 2019.

Ms Higgins had worked for both politicians that year – first for Ms Reynolds as an assistant media adviser, and then moving to Ms Cash’s office that same year.

Ms Cash told the court that Ms Higgins was concerned the security breach would be made public because the inquiry was from a journalist from the Canberra Times.

‘She was embarrassed because it was in relation to herself and a security issue,’ Ms Cash said.

‘She and another staff member returned to the office after drinking … They were potentially intoxicated.

‘Ms Higgins fell asleep on the couch and I believe security found her the next day.’

Ms Cash denied knowing about any sexual assault allegations prior to February 5, 2021.

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