The high-profile trial of Brittany Higgins’ accused rapist could be over by mid-next week, a jury has heard.
Ms Higgins alleges Bruce Lehrmann sexually assaulted her in the office of former Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds after a night out drinking in March 2019.
Mr. Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
The jury trial was originally slated to last between four and six weeks, but the court heard Wednesday that the timeline is very likely to be significantly shortened.
Prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC told the court: “We have shortened the trial.
“We expect to complete the case in the first half of next week.”
Brittany Higgins was pictured out of court on Friday (in white) arriving for day four of her rape trial against her former colleague
Earlier on Wednesday, the court learned that Ms Higgins would not be available until Friday, when the cross-examination with attorney Steven Whybrow resumes.
Ms Higgins was due to complete her cross-examination on Monday, but has not appeared in court this week.
The trial continued in her absence, with the Crown calling other witnesses.
However, the court has prevented the publication of other evidence until Ms. Higgins returns and supplements her evidence.
The jury was told, “Mrs. Higgins will be back Friday morning. We will do our best to occupy the rest of today and tomorrow with witnesses.”
Last week, Ms Higgins was in tears as she was grilled during cross-examination the night in question, also about whether she had vomit stains on her dress.
She also exploded in court when attorney Steven Whybrow told her she had told Mr. Dillaway, the police and her former boss Fiona Brown that she was making doctor’s appointments to bolster her story.
Mrs. Higgins replied loudly, “What you say is deeply insulting.”
‘You are so wrong.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced trauma before… It’s confrontational, it’s very hard to do. I was bedridden, I tried my best. I completely reject everything you say.’
Mr Whybrow also asked why she hadn’t told anyone about the alleged attack for several days, despite having been in contact with Mr Dillaway and her father via text message.
Former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann arrives at the ACT Supreme Court in Canberra on Wednesday
In the lyrics, Mr. Dillaway and Mrs. Higgins made light jokes about tacos, margaritas and his recent drive from the Gold Coast in Queensland to Orange in NSW.
The only inference Ms Higgins made about the alleged attack was when she wrote, “Haha, I’m just getting myself in trouble, I’ve got to keep that thing locked.”
Mrs. Higgins told the court, ‘I wasn’t ready to share, I played it out.’
In court, Ms Higgins said she “responded to his messages on autopilot, as if everything was fine.”
Earlier in the trial, Ms Higgins admitted to having deleted photos from her phone before handing it over to police.
Mr Whybrow told Ms Higgins that she persistently refused to hand over her phone to the police despite being asked several times in 2021.
Brittany Higgins arrives at the ACT Supreme Court in Canberra before taking the stand in Thursday’s trial of her alleged rapist
He suggested that she had an appointment with police to hand over her phone on March 21, 2021, but she did not attend the appointment due to an “urgent legal matter… a defamation incident involving Ms Reynolds,” he told the court.
“Ah yes,” Mrs Higgins replied. ‘Reclining cow. I remember,” she added, referring to reports that Senator Reynolds had called her “a lying cow” in February 2021.
Ms Higgins agreed that she hadn’t handed over her phone for several weeks despite being asked to, but collapsed on the stand when she explained why.
‘I was terrified because I [on the week of May 21] I learned that the moment I came into contact with the police again, all politically sensitive matters that fall under the remit of the police are reported to the Minister of the Interior,” she told the court.
Ms Higgins said former Home Secretary Peter Dutton had information about her allegations before making her official police statement.
“I was very scared,” she told the court.
“I sought legal advice to know my rights because I was terrified.”
The court also learned that Ms Higgins taped the conversations after a six-hour interview with Lisa Wilkinson for The Project on Feb. 2, 2021.
A potential $325,000 book deal with Lisa Wilkinson’s husband, Peter FitzSimons, was revealed last week (Mrs. Higgins is pictured with Ms. Wilkinson)
She said Ms. Wilkinson and Ms. Maiden are “fighting” over when her story would be released.
“Who got the exclusive drop so that Walkley’s time comes, who can claim what and it wasn’t even about me or my story,” she told the court.
Ms Maiden won the Gold Walkley in 2021 – Australian journalism’s highest honour, while Ms Wilkinson was awarded a Logie this year.
Mr Whybrow told her she was doing the interview to hurt the Liberal party just before the election, but Ms Higgins said she just wanted to talk about a ‘cultural issue’ in parliament.
“I thought I’d do a printout and a TV and then I’d go back to college and disappear,” she explained.
Ms Higgins told the court that the project’s host was “pretty angry” when the interview aired on February 15, because it was a Monday and Ms Wilkinson normally didn’t work on Mondays.
After both stories got out, Ms Higgins told the court she was inundated with media requests.
The process continues.