Brittany Higgins and Senator Linda Reynolds case draws to a close
Written by admin on September 2, 2024
The long-running blockbuster defamation case between Senator Linda Reynolds her former staffer Brittany Higgins and her husband over critical social media posts is drawing to a close.
Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz over a number of social media posts the pair made in 2022 and 2023.
The posts were critical of Senator Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then-colleague Bruce Lehrmann.
He was charged with rape and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.
The charge was dropped and Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence.
Mr Lehrmann lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April this year when the Federal Court determined, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House.
Hundreds of documents were tendered to the WA Supreme Court last week which saw lawyers argue over last minute evidence before they deliver their closing statements over three days from Monday.
Text messages and correspondence between various players were submitted to the court as lawyers set out to prove their case.
The week had been set aside to hear evidence from Ms Higgins, but her lawyers told the court she would not longer be called to the witness stand and provided medical reports to excuse her from giving oral evidence.
Instead, Justice Paul Tottle agreed to accept portions of evidence from Ms Higgins that had been provided to other courts during the criminal trial and Mr Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network 10.
Over the course of the trial, high profile witnesses gave evidence including former prime minister Scott Morrison, former senator Marise Payne and award-winning news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden who broke the story after she interviewed Ms Higgins about her allegations in 2021.
From Monday to Wednesday this week, the court will hear from lawyers representing the senator and Ms Higgins as they deliver their closing statements in the high-stakes case.
Both parties risk losing their homes, with Senator Reynolds revealing she had to mortgage her home to cover legal fees for the trial which could run to more than $1m.
Ms Higgins revealed she would be forced to sell her $700,000 house in France in order to defend the case brought by Senator Reynolds.
The pair purchased the five-bedroom chateau in Lunas after moving overseas last year for a “fresh start”.
