Lie claim is rubbished
Higgins had ‘right to be scared’
BRITTANY Higgins would’ve had to be “quite the actor” if she was to lie about Bruce Lehrmann raping her inside Parliament House, the court has heard.
The Crown prosecutor Shane Drumgold told the jury that the “essence” of the case was whether they believed the defence argument she lied about the rape to save her “dream job”.
Mr Lehrmann is accused of raping colleague Brittany Higgins in Linda Reynolds’ ministerial office at Parliament House after drinking with work colleagues in March 2019.
He has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without her consent and being reckless to her consent.
“If she did, it was elaborate … She has done so for over three years. She did not falter,” he said.
“We submit not a single inconsistency in what she said has been revealed.
“If this is a fabrication. She appears to be quite the actor.”
Mr Drumgold said that included lying to her own mother, noting that the court had heard evidence from Kelly Higgins that her daughter had become “unfamiliar” to her after the incident.
The Crown submitted to the court that Mr Lehrmann had lied about why he needed to return to Parliament House in the early hours of March 23, 2019.
“(It was) the most convenient place to get the then very drunk and vulnerable complainant alone … possibly with the hope that she would either not resist or not remember,” Mr Drumgold said.
“Ask yourself on the back of the complainant’s huge night and clear intoxication … that the accused would firstly take her to Parliament House because she supposedly had some work to do, then left,” he said. “Leaving her there and apparently turning the lights out as he left.”
He said that the accused had known Ms Higgins for 20 days before the alleged rape and had no reason to infer “romantic inclinations” between the two, pointing to Ms Higgins rejecting an attempt to kiss her in the weeks before the incident.
Earlier, the Crown prosecutor said the former Liberal staffer had “a right to be scared” by the “strong political forces” while deciding whether to proceed with a complaint of rape.
“This is a young lady in the middle of strong political forces, and we say she was right to be scared,” he said.
“She was right to be cautious, and we say she was right to move slowly and carefully in handing her life over to the police.”
He warned the jury against being distracted by “side issues and red herrings” about book deals and political parties.
“This case is not about political movements, not about political parties, and not about workplace culture,” he told the court.
“This case is certainly not about the experiences of other women in parliament or the MeToo movement.
“This case is about what happened on a couch in a room on Saturday the 23 of March 2019.”
The trial continues.