Journalist Lisa Wilkinson will argue former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann did rape his then-colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, if his lawsuit towards her and Channel Ten is allowed to proceed.
Lehrmann is suing for defamation over the interview Wilkinson performed with Higgins on Ten present The Project on February 15, 2021, through which she alleged she had been raped after an evening out with colleagues in 2019.
Although the previous Liberal staffer wasn’t named within the interview, he argued a sequence of particulars listed had been sufficient to establish him to a spread of individuals.
In a lawsuit filed within the Federal Court final month, he claims the article conveyed the that means he “raped Brittany Higgins in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019” and three different defamatory imputations.
He additionally claimed the printed invited viewers to “speculate” in regards to the identification of the particular person referred to, and that that they had already learn or went on to learn on-line articles or social media posts naming Lehrmann.
Lehrmann alleges Ten and Wilkinson had been “recklessly indifferent to the truth or falsity” of what they had been broadcasting, with out giving him an opportunity to reply.
In a defence printed on-line by the Federal Court of Australia on Tuesday, Wilkinson admitted that if the printed recognized Lehrmann, it carried the defamatory imputation that he raped Higgins.
But the journalist mentioned she “does not know and cannot admit” he was “reasonably identified by any viewer”.
Lehrmann, who has at all times denied the allegations and maintained his innocence, is asking the courtroom to increase the limitation interval for the defamation case, which is often one 12 months, till final month when the declare was filed.
Wilkinson’s attorneys, who the journalist employed privately as a substitute of utilizing Ten’s in-house authorized group, sought to dam that software.
If the matter is allowed to go forward, Wilkinson will rely partially on the substantive reality of the rape allegation, in line with her defence.
She will argue the imputation that “Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019” and three different imputations she claims are equal in substance are considerably true.
She may even depend on the defence of statutory certified privilege.
Wilkinson denied Lehrmann’s claims the interview was printed in an “over-sensationalised” method and that he wasn’t given an opportunity to reply.
She mentioned Lehrmann was contacted within the days earlier than the interview by means of messages to his cell phone and work and private emails.
Lehrmann’s identification was finally printed by a number of media retailers when he was charged with one rely of sexual activity with out consent.
Lehrmann’s prison trial within the ACT Supreme Court was derailed in October resulting from juror misconduct and the prosecutor later dropped the costs as a result of impacts a second trial would have on Higgins’ psychological well being. Lehrmann at all times denied the allegations towards him.
Source: www.9news.com.au
