Prosecutors will today close their case against the former Liberal staffer accused of raping Brittany Higgins after an explosive day of evidence.
Ms Higgins claims her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in the parliamentary office of former Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds in the early hours of March 23, 2019.
He has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of intercourse without consent and will be sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court.
In a dramatic day in court on Monday, Senator Reynolds was called to the witness stand and accused of trying to interfere with the trial by requesting a copy of Ms Higgins’ evidence transcript from Lehrmann’s defense lawyer.
Prosecutor Shane Drumgold told the court Ms Reynolds sent the first message to defense barrister Steven Whybrow at 4.27pm on October 6.
Brittany Higgins (pictured) claims her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in former Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds’ parliamentary office in March 2019.
Senator Linda Reynolds was called as a witness for the prosecution in the ACT Supreme Court case, but admitted texting a defense lawyer while Ms Higgins was under cross-examination.
The message read: ‘Hi, do you have the daily statements? If so, are you able to provide my lawyer?’
She sent another text a minute later: ‘If you also have texts between Brittany and Nicky, they could be revealing.’
‘Nicky’ refers to Nicole Hamar, who was called to the witness stand last week.
Ms Reynolds was called as a witness for the prosecution, but she admitted texting the defense barrister while Ms Higgins was being cross-examined.
She told the court she was not seeking to coach the cross-examination of her former employee, she was simply ‘curious’ about what had been said in court.
Senator Reynolds was told by her lawyer that it was ‘inappropriate’ to have access to a transcript, that she did not receive one.
The former defense minister also told the court she believed an exchange of messages between Ms Higgins and Ms Hamar could “shed some light” on the allegations.
Former Attorney General Michaelia Cash (pictured with Ms Higgins) was one of the first witnesses in court on Monday
Drumgold suggested that Senator Reynolds was politically invested in the case.
He told Senator Reynolds that if she was motivated enough to try to intervene when there was no election on the horizon, her dominant concern when Ms Higgins first raised the complaint in 2019 would have been the impending election.
‘Absolutely not. I categorically and completely reject that allegation, Senator Reynolds said.
She was also asked why her boyfriend sat in the back of the courtroom for the first week of the trial, but told the court he did not give her any information about what happened in court.
Senator Reynolds also refused to know the details of Ms Higgins’ allegations when she met with her about a week after the alleged rape.
She said at the time she only knew of the security breach as a result of two staff members – Lehrmann and Ms Higgins – gaining access to the ministerial suite after hours.
She also recalled Ms Higgins saying she ‘couldn’t remember what happened’ during the meeting – which was held in the office where Ms Higgins claims she was assaulted.
‘She said she woke up the next morning and got dressed. It was at that point she was a bit more distressed and at that point I thought I’m not the right person to speak, Senator Reynolds told the court.
Bruce Lehrmann outside the ACT Supreme Court on Monday where he has pleaded not guilty to raping Brittany Higgins in the early hours of March 2019
‘If she can’t remember what happened, she’s distraught and getting dressed, I told her – I’m not the person to be having this conversation.
‘I knew we had an (Australian Federal Police agent) in the building so I suggested to her that she would rather have this conversation with someone more qualified.’
Speaking about what she knew about Ms Higgins’ allegations in the weeks that followed, Ms Reynolds told the court she learned of most of the allegations on February 15, 2019 – when The Project and News Corp ran stories about the alleged rape.
Earlier on Monday, Senator Michaelia Cash – Ms Higgins’ former boss – told the court that Ms Reynolds’ office had received a media inquiry about Ms Higgins in October 2019.
Ms Higgins had worked for both politicians that year – first for Ms Reynolds as an assistant media adviser and then moved to Ms Cash’s office the same year.
Ms Cash told the court Ms Higgins was concerned the security breach would be publicized because the inquiry was from a Canberra Times reporter.
“She was embarrassed because it was about herself and a safety issue,” Cash said.
‘She and another employee returned to the office after drinking … They were potentially intoxicated.
‘Ms Higgins fell asleep on the sofa and I believe security found her the next day.’
Ms. Cash denied knowledge of sexual assault allegations prior to February 5, 2021.