Bruce Lehrmann has denied having sex with Brittany Higgins, telling the federal court the alleged rape “never happened” during a dramatic cross-examination.
The former Liberal staffer was cross-examined about the night of the alleged rape for the first time on Friday by Channel Ten’s Dr Matt Collins KC.
Mr Lehrmann did not give evidence at the criminal trial but has conducted several television interviews.
A grim-faced Mr Lehrmann shook his head as the barrister put to him a graphic account of the alleged rape that he emphatically denied.
“I’m going to put a series of propositions to you and I’m going to get your response to them in respect of what happened while you and Ms Higgins were in the ministerial suite,” Dr Collins said.
“Did you come into the support staff area and find Ms. Higgins either semi-conscious or passed out,’’ Dr Collins asked.
Mr Lehrmann denied this.
“Did you enter the minister’s office and find Ms Higgins on the minister’s couch either semi-conscious or passed out?”
“No, I didn’t enter the minister’s office,” Mr Lehrmann said.
Dr Collins put it to Mr Lehrmann that “you had sexual intercourse with Ms Higgins on the couch”.
“I did not have sex with her,” Mr Lehrmann said.
Dr Collins asked if Ms Higgins was not wearing underwear that night.
Mr Lehrmann said he could not know if she was or wasn’t.
He asked Mr Lehrmann if he “spread Ms Higgins legs so that you could penetrate her and propped her right leg up on the back of the couch”.
“Your knee was on Ms Higgins left leg, pinning it down on the couch,” Dr Collins said.
Mr Lehrmann emphatically denied this.
“This did not happen,” Mr Lehrmann said.
Dr Collins asked if he was “rough and forceful, slapping your body hard against Ms Higgins”.
“This did not happen,” Mr Lehrmann said.
“You were sweating and grunting? Ms Higgins said no to you?” Dr Collins said.
“This didn’t happen. None of this happened,” Mr Lehrmann said.
Dr Collins asked if Mr Lehrmann sought consent before having sexual intercourse with Ms Higgins.
“I didn’t get consent because I didn’t have sexual intercourse with her,’’ Mr Lehrmann said.
Lehrmann denies ‘pashing’ Higgins at pub
Previously, Mr Lehrmann denied “pashing” Brittany Higgins in a nightclub, touching her legs, putting his arm around her or kissing her at a bar on the night she was allegedly raped.
In his third day in the witness box, Mr Lehrmann expressly denied kissing, touching or being intimate with Ms Higgins.
He accused another woman at the bar – Lauren Gain – of “fabricating” evidence that she saw Mr Lehrmann pashing Ms Higgins.
The claim of a kiss was raised during the opening of the trial but not pursued when Ms Gain was called to give evidence following a legal argument not heard by the jury.
Mr Lehmann denies anything sexual ever occurred between the two Liberal staffers when they returned to Parliament after 1:40am in March, 2019.
Network 10’s barrister Matthew Collins KC put to Mr Lehrmann on Friday afternoon that he had been intimate with Ms Higgins at the 88mph bar after he left The Dock Hotel.
He suggested Ms Higgins was so drunk she fell over.
“You observed her fall and graze her knee in front of the booth and you assisted her back up onto the couch,” Dr Collins said.
Mr Lehrmann replied: “No, that did not happen.”
Dr Collins asked Mr Lehrmann if it was the case that Austin Wenke, a staffer in Peter Dutton’s office, was “hooking up” with another member of the group Lauren Gain at the 88mph bar.
“As that was happening, you were sitting close to Ms Higgins,” Dr Collins said.
“Yes,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
Dr Collins then asked if he was touching Ms Higgins.
“Touching her on the legs and on the thigh,” he asked.
“No I was not,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
Dr Collins asked Mr Lehrmann if he put his arm around Ms Higgins and kissed her. Mr Lehrmann denied this.
“You deny kissing her,’’ Dr Collins asked.
“Yes,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
“And you accuse Ms Gain of having fabricated evidence … in order to discredit you?
“I believe she did. Yes,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
Dr Collins queried whether Mr Lehrmann was asked if he was intimate with Ms Higgins by police.
“Your evidence to His Honour today is you have a crystal clear recollection that you did not engage in any conduct that was intimate with Ms Higgins at 88mph,” Dr Collins said.
“Why did you tell the Australian Federal Police in the record of an interview excerpt I’ve just played to you that you just couldn’t recall because of the passage of time?”
“You never pashed her at any time?,’’ he asked.
“No,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
Mr Lehrmann was also asked why he needed to return to Parliament House to “get his keys” when his girlfriend was at home and could let him in.
“You could have gone home, couldn’t you and just knock on the door and ask your girlfriend to let you in,’’ Dr Collins asked.
“No. It’s not as easy as that,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
“You could have texted your girlfriend to have her meet you at the door?,’’ Dr Collins asked. “Or called her?”
“Possibly,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
‘All hers’: Court shown new Lehrmann CCTV
Earlier, Mr Lehrmann denied trying to get Brittany Higgins drunk and telling her “drink that now” at the pub, as he was cross examined today about the night of the alleged rape.
In his third day in the witness box, Mr Lehrmann was briefly forced to take a break as he was grilled over whether or not he purchased Ms Higgins two vodka drinks and how he paid for them, given his bank records provided to police did not appear to include the purchase.
During the cross examination, Mr Lehrmann conceded he was wrong when he suggested in previous evidence he did not buy Ms Higgins a drink.
Later in the evening, 10’s barrister Dr Matt Collins KC asked Mr Lehrmann if he had pointed at a drink Ms Higgins had left on a table and said “Drink that now”.
“I disagree with that,’’ Mr Lehrmann said.
The barrister asked Mr Lehrmann if Ms Higgins replied, “No, I don’t want to.”
Mr Lehrmann disagreed.
Dr Collins then asked what words he did say to Ms Higgins. “I couldn’t tell you that,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
“I’m going to put this to you. You said to her, ‘Drink that, now,’” Dr Collins said.
“I would completely disagree with that,” Mr Lehrmann responded.
“I don’t recall that ever taking place.”
Dr Collins asked Mr Lehrmann if he had said, “You can’t leave that. Come on, you’re not leaving that.”
He asked if Ms Higgins then skolled the drink and as she finished, whether Mr Lehrmann had told Ms Higgins, “Well done, what a surprise.”
Mr Lehrmann disagreed.
Earlier, Dr Collins KC played CCTV footage of the night in question, showing Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins drinking at a Canberra bar called The Dock.
The trial has previously heard Channel 10 hired a lip reader to analyse the CCTV footage. Dr Collins KC then put to Mr Lehrmann a series of questions about what he had said to Ms Higgins.
He then played footage of Mr Lehrmann moving three drinks towards Ms Higgins on a table.
“I want to put to you that you said to her, ‘all hers all hers,’” Dr Collins said.
“I disagree with that,” Mr Lehrmann replied. “I don’t recall ever saying that.”
Ms Higgins then smiles and pats Mr Lehrmann on the arm.
Dr Collins then asked if Ms Higgins said of the three drinks” “Oh stop, oh stop.”
“Can I put to you Mr Lehrmann, you were encouraging Ms Higgins to get drunk,” Dr Collins said.
“No,” Mr Lehrmann replied.
Dr Collins KC then played more CCTV from around 10:42pm that night. Ms Higgins returns from the bar.
“You agree with me Mr Lerhmann that as soon as you registered that Ms Higgins was re-entering the courtyard you picked up a spirit-based drink and handed it to her,’’ Dr Collins said.
At 11:09pm the footage shows Mr Lehrmann producing a card to buy another drink with Ms Higgins.
“At 23.09 that was you handing a card over to pay for the drinks that you had just ordered for yourself and Ms Higgins,” Mr Collins said.
“Yes,” Mr Lehrmann replied.
“Can you explain, Mr Lehrmann, how you paid for those drinks,” Dr Collins asked.
Dr Collins said he had produced records to the police that only showed a single $16 purchase.
“You must have had another source of funds that you have not disclosed.”
“No,” Mr Lehrmann replied.
“I can’t explain beyond that. I had two cards.”
Lehrmann admits ‘false’ claim after warning
Earlier, Dr Collins KC has cautioned Bruce Lehrmann to “be very careful” in his evidence on the question of whether or not he bought Brittany Higgins two vodka drinks on the night of the alleged rape.
Mr Lehrmann asked to take a short break today after he was cross-examined for 45 minutes over his recollections of events and whether or not he bought Ms Higgins drinks on the night in question.
He previously told the Federal Court he did not, when his evidence in chief was led by Steve Whybrow SC.
He said that his bank records suggested he only bought a drink for a Liberal staffer called Austin Wenke.
But Dr Collins KC pressed him on Friday morning over whether this was accurate.
“Be very careful about it. Mr Lehrmann. Did you buy Ms Higgins two vodka drinks in the course of your time at The Dock on the 22nd of March,’’ Dr Collins said.
“I don’t believe I bought two rounds,’’ he replied.
“Did you buy her two vodka drinks,’’ Dr Collins said.
Earlier, Dr Collins KC cross examined Mr Lehrmann over his claims that his interactions with Ms Higgins were minimal.
“I want to put it to you that your interactions with Ms Higgins at the Dock were not minimal. You spent much of the evening with her,’’ the barrister said.
Mr Lehrmann disagreed saying he recalled her coming over to his table.
“You kept an eye on her?,’’ Dr Collins asked.
“I disagree with that,’’ Mr Lehrmann said
“You made sure she always had a drink in her hands or close by?,’’ Dr Collins asked.
“No.”
“You bought her two vodka drinks?,’’ Dr Collins said.
“Ah. Mmm. I can’t remember,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
Mr Lehrmann was then asked again if he bought her two vodka drinks at The Dock.
“I’m happy to be corrected. It’s very hard to recall specifically I’m sorry,’’ Mr Lehrmann said.
Dr Collins then said: “I am asking for your evidence. Mr Lehrmann it’s not my job to correct you.”
“At this moment I’m really struggling and I’m because I’m in the witness box. I’m being very careful not to give definitive answers because my mind is blank at the moment,’’ Mr Lehrmann said.
Mr Lehrmann was offered and agreed to a short break.
When he returned to the witness box after the break, Mr Lehrmann said he now recalled buying Ms Higgins a drink.
“I’ve refreshed my memory,’’ Mr Lehrmann said.
“I do recall having some time with Ms Higgins up at the bar where I did buy a drink.”
Dr Collins asked him if the evidence he had given on the first day of the trial on November 22 that he did not buy her a drink was “false”.
“The answer you gave to his honour on the 22nd when you said you did not recall buying any drinks for anyone other than Austin Wenke, that answer was false,’’ Dr Collins KC said.
Mr Lehrmann agreed this was the case and apologised. At one point during the cross examination he said he was getting confused.
“I was wrong … I must have been confused,’’ he said.
“Did you speak to anyone during the break,’’ Dr Collins asked.
Mr Lehrmann said he had not.
“I’m suggesting to you that you in fact bought two drinks, what do you say to that?,’’ Dr Collins asked.
Dr Collins then asked if he recalled telling the Australian Federal Police in a recorded interview on the 19th of April 2021 that he did not buy any drinks for Ms Higgins.
“Yes, I recall the interview,’’ he replied.
Mr Lehrmann said he accepted that his recollection at that time was not accurate.
“I’m sorry, it’s been quite stressful,’’ Mr Lehrmann said.
Earlier, Mr Collins KC asked Mr Lehrmann if he recalled the then Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold’s closing address to the jury in the criminal trial.
“I don’t recall. I didn’t pay much attention,’’ Mr Lehmann said.
Dr Collins then asked if he “paid more attention” to the learned chief justice when she provided her summing up to the jury.”
“Not really,’’ he replied.
“You didn’t take your criminal trial seriously?’’ Dr Collins asked.
“I certainly did. but by that point, I had some serious concerns about the conduct of it.”
‘I lied’: Lehrmann grilled on whiskey claim
Earlier, Mr Lehrmann was grilled over the night Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped at Parliament House and why he lied to his chief of staff when he said that he came back to the office to drink whiskey.
Mr Lehrmann is suing Network 10 and broadcaster Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Ms Higgins that was broadcast by The Project on February 15, 2021.
Giving evidence in the Federal Court on Friday, Channel 10’s barrister Matt Collins KC has been probing inconsistencies in his account of the events of that night and the weeks preceding.
Mr Lehrmann initially told security guards at Parliament House he was going back to pick up documents for Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynods to gain entry at 1.40am.
In the days that followed, he told his chief of staff Fiona Brown he went back with Ms Higgins to drink whiskey.
He later told police he went back to pick up his house keys and while he was there worked on some Question Time folders until after 2am.
Dr Collins played a tape of the Spotlight interview that Mr Lehrmann conducted with Channel 7’s Liam Bartlett, where he agreed the whiskey excuse to his chief of staff Fiona Brown was a lie.
“And it was put to you that you had lied about having gone back there to drink whiskey,’’ Dr Collins KC asked.
“Yes,’’ Mr Lehrmann replied.
“And you agreed that you’d lied,’’ Dr Collins said.
“Yes.”
The trial continues