Director of Public Prosecutions slams cops’ claims Brittany Higgins was ‘evasive, manipulative’
Police declared Brittany Higgins was “evasive and manipulative” in an executive briefing the DPP has slammed as “appalling”.
Police declared Brittany Higgins was “evasive and manipulative” in an executive briefing that the Director of Public Prosecutions slammed as “appalling” and designed to persuade him against prosecution.
The extraordinary power struggle between the AFP, who resisted charging Bruce Lehrmann, and the chief prosecutor has been laid bare today at the inquiry into the prosecution of the former Liberal staffer.
Mr Lehrmann maintains his innocence and was never convicted over the allegation.
Slamming the police document as “inadmissable opinion evidence”, the ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold has taken the stand as the first witness in the inquiry into the prosecution of the matter.
He then compared the police’s view in the document to someone “complaining she’s wearing a miniskirt” as to whether that was relevant to whether or not you consented to sex.
“It’s just a biased, stereotyped opinion. And that’s, that was kind of including observations of evidence. The evidence was taken out of context.”
In her opening address, counsel assisting the inquiry Erin Longbottom KC said that the DPP’s concerns about police conduct went beyond the Brittany Higgins case.
“You will hear Mr. Drumgold has ongoing concerns that ACT police are applying the wrong test when deciding whether to charge,’’ she said.
But she also strongly challenged the DPP on a number of matters over his own conduct.
Police: Higgins evasive, uncooperative
In the afternoon the inquiry turned to the document that has become known as the Moller report which outlines police concerns about the case.
Mr Drumgold gave evidence that this document was prepared in June, 2021 after tense meetings with police where it became apparent to him that they were reluctant to charge but he believed there was enough evidence to do so.
For the first time, the entire Moller report can now be revealed after it was tendered as evidence in the inquiry led by Walter Sofronoff KC.
The document, which alarmed Mr Drumgold and ultimately prompted him to call for an inquiry into the AFP’s conduct, was emailed on June 18, 2021.
At the time, police were reluctant to charge but the DPP believed there was enough evidence to proceed.
In a covering letter Detective Superintendent Scott Moller of Criminal Investigations writes that “the investigation has identified a number of concerns regarding this matter to date including inconsistencies in disclosure, credibility concerns.”
The executive briefing attached to his own letter expresses the concerns in even stronger terms.
“Throughout the investigation Ms Higgins has been evasive, uncooperative and manipulative,’’ the briefing states.
The complaints raised include Ms Higgins reluctance to hand over her mobile phone to police and claims she made public disclosures of seeking medical attention, including talking to doctors and receiving the morning after pill.
“In spite of extensive inquiries, no records have been identified for Ms Higgins receiving any medical assistance after the incident.”
Sex scandal texts
The report notes that during a second record of interview Ms Higgins confirmed she had not sought medical attention for the alleged sexual assault and “had lied to placate Ben Dillaway whom she was seeing at the time.”
Police also note in the document that she had texted her then partner prior to the alleged incident in March, 2019 discussing the need for a political sex scandal. “Exactly, a sex scandal the party can be proud of. Another Barnaby without the baby haha.”
Investigators also found a message where she states “F**k it, if they want to play hard ball I’ll cry on the Project again because of this sort of treatment.”
Police raised mental health fears
The tendered documents shows investigators also found a message in Brittany Higgins’ iPhone Notes section, which seemed to be a kind of diary entry or mantra.
“I am not scared, I don’t want to be a politician, this never felt like your world, you were just a tourist, this is more than you expected, they did something terrible, they deserve to be held account, Bruce raped you, he got away, they were complicity, they manipulated you, they made you feel suicidal, they didn’t care, you are not the Liberal Party, they wiped your phone, they continue to silence you, they are predators, systematically facilitating this behaviour, you are doing the right thing, move beyond them.”
The executive briefing also raises concerns over Ms Higgins mental health.
“Investigators have identified that Ms Higgins has a history of anxiety and depression and when reviewing Ms Higgins phone found in the search history searches in relation to ending her own life.”
The documents tabled also included another document that was prepared on June, 2021 by the AFP.
It states that a witness called Lauren Gain, who attended the 88MPH bar on the night in question thought that she saw Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins “pashing”.
Mr Lehrmann later told police he was not intimate with Ms Higgins on the night in question because he had a girlfriend. He said he did not have sex with her.
Ms Higgins told police in her own record of interview she did not remember kissing him in the bar.
The document also devotes an entire section to medical attention/morning after pill.
It states that she told her then boyfriend she sought medical attention to placate a boyfriend.
But it also states she told police she never took the morning after pill and does not state if she ever said she had.
Other victims
The police summary also states that “as a result of media interest in this investigation, open source reporting has indicated there may be four other victims relating to Mr Lehrmann.
Victim 1 is described by police as “an anonymous person known only to media outlets.”
Victim 2 is described as “an anonymous person known only to media outlets.”
Victim 3 is a woman who says that Mr Lehrmann put his hand on her clothed thigh in a bar and looked at her in a “suggestive manner.”
Victim 4 is a former housemate of Mr Lehrmann who says he asked for sex on one occasion. The NSW police had taken “nil further action in relation to this matter.”
Tussle over legal privilege
Earlier, the inquiry heard evidence over a tussle between police and the DPP over whether the Moller report should be provided to Mr Lehrmann’s defence team.
“I believe these documents are preparatory to confidential communications between the DPP and AFP for the dominant purpose of providing legal advice, and are not disclosable pursuant to s118 Evidence Act 2011,’’ Mr Drumgold wrote June 21, 2022.
“How could you offer that opinion?” inquiry chief Walter Sofronoff KC asked.
Wilkinson slams criticism as “unfair”
The inquiry also tendered multiple emails from Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyer Marlia Saunders of Thomson Greer to the DPP over the fallout from her Logies speech.
In the correspondence, Ms Saunders said the intense media focus ultimately drove her decision to quit The Project.
Counsel assisting the inquiry Erin Longbottom, KC, put to Drumgold those statements to McCallum were knowingly false, which Drumgold denied.
Sofronoff then grilled Drumgold over the note, with the latter eventually agreeing that he had added the exchange with Wilkinson over the speech to the notes after she had given the address.
“Therefore the answer you gave to Her Honour was false,” Mr Sofronoff said.
The DPP also revealed in evidence that he did not believe Channel Ten star Lisa Wilkinson should be charged with contempt but resisted saying so publicly because he was “a prosecutor, not a publicist”.
He conceded he should have told her more clearly not to deliver the speech.
“I thought it was more about pointing out she was up for a Logie Award rather than seeking genuine advice,” he said.
“In hindsight I should have taken a different approach.”
Mr Lehrmann, who is suing news.com.au for defamation, attended the hearing in Canberra on Monday as a member of the public.
The inquiry continues.
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