Lisa Wilkinson’s Tweet shows TV presenter knew contempt law dangers long before Logie’s speech
Her Logies acceptance speech and resulting media commentary delayed the trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins- but Lisa Wilkinson seemingly felt differently on speaking about alleged sexual assault just a year ago.
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A resurfaced tweet from Lisa Wilkinson’s Twitter account seemingly shows that the TV presenter was aware of the dangers of speaking about the case.
Wilkinson’s Tweet from August last year warned users against “passing judgement” about a man accused of alleged sexual assault of a woman in parliament as this could have “dire consequences” for judicial fairness.
The old tweet comes after the veteran journalist Logie’s speech and resulting media commentary caused delay in the criminal trial of former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins.
“Can I implore everyone to respect what’s in play here,” the tweet from August 6, 2021 read.
“Naming the man on social media and passing judgement could have dire consequences for the outcome of any trial.”
It comes as with “gritted teeth” a judge has delayed the trial for the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins after TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson “completely obliterated” the line between allegation and guilt in her Logies acceptance speech.
Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019, and was due to stand trial in the ACT Supreme Court starting on Monday, June 27.
But ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum on Tuesday vacated the trial dates after Lehrmann’s defence team requested a temporary stay in response to Wilkinson’s speech on Sunday.
Justice McCallum said she agreed to the delay, “regrettably and with gritted teeth”.
“Unfortunately … the recent publicity (of the speech) does, in my view, change the landscape,” she said.
Justice McCallum said the comments Wilkinson made when accepting the Logie for her work on Ms Higgins’ story, and a subsequent radio interview with Jonesy & Amanda on Monday morning, “completely obliterated” the line between an allegation and the finding of guilt.
“The implicit premise of the speech was to celebrate the truthfulness of the story she (Wilkinson) exposed,” Justice McCallum said.
Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steve Whybrow, told the court the publicity following Wilkinson’s speech posed a real threat to the trial process.
“It’s untenable for a trial to be held in the case at this time,” he said.
It was also revealed Wilkinson had been warned by the ACT’s Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold about the risk of speaking publicly prior to her Logies win.
On June 15, Wilkinson advised Mr Drumgold of her nomination and attempted to read her planned speech, according to a note provided to the court.
Mr Drumgold stopped her and said he was not a speech editor, but advised Wilkinson the defence could attempt to delay the trial in the event of publicity.
Justice McCallum noted in previous hearings she had issued “stern warnings” to the media about its reporting, but her trust had been “misplaced”.
She then asked Mr Drumgold if he wished to seek injunctions to prevent further commentary on the case, suggesting these could be directed at Wilkinson, Ms Higgins, The Project and radio hosts Brendan “Jonesy” Jones and Amanda Keller. Justice McCallum did not set a new trial date, but said October would be an appropriate time for a “dissipation of prejudice”.
A Network 10 spokeswoman acknowledged the court ruling and said the network “fully supports” Wilkinson.
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Originally published as Lisa Wilkinson’s Tweet shows TV presenter knew contempt law dangers long before Logie’s speech
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