Brittany Higgins has testified in court that the bruise on her leg—which was shown to the media and was documented in a photo—may have resulted from a tumble up stairs rather than from the claimed assault by former coworker Bruce Lehrmann.
As part of Network Ten’s defense against accusations made by her former coworker Bruce Lehrmann that a February 2021 report that featured details of the alleged rape was defamatory, the former Liberal staff member gave testimony in Federal Court today.
The alleged sexual assault is claimed to have happened early on March 23, 2019, in Senator Linda Reynolds’ parliamentary office, Higgins’ former boss.
Lehrmann disputes that there was any intimate or sexual contact.
When questioned by Steven Whybrow SC, Lehrmann’s attorney, Higgins acknowledged that it’s possible the bruise in the April 2019 photo—which was used to support her claim—was not actually sustained during the claimed sex assault.
The former Liberal staffer remarked, “It’s possible that it was caused by falling up the stairs.”
She stated she “had to accept it as a possibility” that the bruise was from a fall on “that exact night” rather than continuing to believe it was caused by the alleged rape.
“I’m not sure what exactly caused the bruise,” Higgins remarked.
The court was informed that a screenshot of the image was provided to Network Ten on January 27, 2021, from a different device, and that no one had requested to see the original.
Before, Higgins refuted Whybrow’s assertion that she portrayed Reynolds and chief of staff Fiona Brown as “villains in this story” based on a timeline of events provided to the media in January 2021.
According to Higgins, neither Reynolds nor Brown are “bad people”.
“I didn’t need to feed any story,” Higgins declared, rejecting rumors that at the time there was an effort to influence an impending federal election.
“I did want to change the culture of Parliament House,” she stated.
While acknowledging mistakes in the timing, Higgins stated, “now I’ve got a much clearer picture of what happened”.
The court was informed that Higgins was unconscious from valium when the material was distributed to certain media outlets.
Higgins responded that Lehrmann’s name “was meant to be redacted” when asked why it appeared on the timeline.
Higgins remarked, “It was my favorite dress, I used to wear it all the time,” regarding her decision to wear the dress from the night of the alleged rape to a Liberal birthday celebration function of Reynolds in Perth in May 2019.
According to Higgins, donning the dress was an effort to “shake off” and “reclaim” its connotations.
Regarding the garment’s connection to the alleged rape, she remarked, “I never could.”
She disagreed with Whybrow’s claim that there was never a rape in Parliament House.
“You’re wrong,” Higgins remarked.
She lost it yesterday while being questioned about the lies and contradictions she had told the police, the media, her superiors at Parliament House, and a jury in a criminal trial.
In his testimony during the defamation trial, Lehrmann acknowledged providing inaccurate accounts of the relevant events to the police, media, and the court.
He was accused of rape in August 2021, but jury misbehavior forced the ACT Supreme Court to drop his criminal prosecution.
Because of worries about Higgins’ mental state, the prosecution chose not to request a second trial.
Lehrmann has consistently defended his innocence, and no evidence has been found against him.
Former director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold has attempted to contest the indicting conclusions of a historic August report on the ACT legal system and the Higgins case.
In addition, Lehrmann is charged by Queensland courts with twice raping a different woman in Toowoomba in October 2021.
Though his attorneys have stated he denies the charges, he has not yet entered a plea.
