Bruce Lehrmann sacks lawyers representing him in Toowoomba rape trial
Bruce Lehrmann has made a shock move ahead of a pending criminal trial in Toowoomba, where he is set to defend two counts of rape.
Bruce Lehrmann has sacked lawyers representing him in his rape trial in Toowoomba.
The former parliamentary staffer on Monday indicated he would no longer be represented by criminal solicitor Rowan King, from RK Law, in a letter to Toowoomba District Court.
He will instead be represented by Zali Burrows – who is currently acting for him in his appeal of his defamation loss against Network 10 in the Federal Court of NSW, with the former political staffer understood to believe she would be a fierce advocate and “ rain down hell” for him if required.
Mr Lehrmann is facing two counts of rape over an alleged incident in the Garden City back in October 2021.
He is yet to enter a plea but has previously indicated he will defend the charges.
Mr King was contacted for comment but did not respond.
NewsWire understands the work was conducted on a pro-bono basis.
A source close to Mr Lehrmann said of Ms Burrows: “He works well with her, that’s clear from the appeal under way and wins she’s already had.
“He is also impressed by her aggression.
“She (Ms Burrows) won’t be afraid to rain down hell if it’s needed, and Bruce needs that.”
Mr Lehrmann will next front court on March 27.
The matter was committed to the Toowoomba District Court in July last year, with Mr Lehrmann’s initial legal team telling the court he would be applying for a judge-alone trial.
During his committal, the court was told a woman had been out drinking with friends and had consumed four lines of cocaine before she went to a strip club, The Vault, in Toowoomba, where she met a man she claimed said his name was Bryce.
It will be alleged in court that Mr Lehrmann gave the woman a false name of “Bryce” when the pair met before clarifying his name is “Bruce”.
The pair allegedly struck up a conversation about their political views before catching a taxi back to the home of a school friend of Mr Lehrmann.
At the home, the woman and Mr Lehrmann had consensual sex and consumed more cocaine after Mr Lehrmann discovered it in her bra, the court was told.
The woman then allegedly lost consciousness before she “woke up” to Mr Lehrmann having sex with her without her consent.
The court was told she then allegedly stopped Mr Lehrmann from having sex with her by saying “stop, what are you doing”.
The second charge against Mr Lehrmann alleges that moments later, he again had sexual intercourse with the woman without her consent.
Prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court in an earlier hearing the complainant told police that during the second incident she was “not enthusiastically laying there” while Mr Lehrmann was allegedly having sex with her.
Ms Friedewald told the court the woman also alleged that while this was happening, Mr Lehrmann was “consoling her throughout the act”, saying to her “it’s OK, it’s OK” and he was not wearing a condom at the time.
“She describes her body as being limp and that she was not enthusiastic. He continued having intercourse with her until he ejaculated inside of her,” Ms Friedewald said.
The court was told while the pair had consensual sex after they had met hours earlier, the Crown will allege that the complainant did not consent to having sex after she woke up.
Due to previous laws in Queensland preventing the identification of people charged with prescribed sexual offences, Mr Lehrmann was only known as a “high profile man” when the charges were initially laid in 2023.
However, those laws were changed in October the same year.
A magistrate ordered an initial non-publication order protecting his identity be revoked but Mr Lehrmann's legal team appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking that decision be quashed.
Supreme Court Justice Peter Applegarth said Mr Lehrmann had not established a non-publication order was necessary to protect his mental health, with his evidence failing to “compel” the Magistrate it should remain in place.
“The evidence before the Magistrate included evidence that the potential naming of the applicant prior to the conclusion of the committal proceeding weighed heavily on him and had affected his mental health,” Justice Applegarth said in his judgment.
“This unfortunate effect on his mental health permitted, but did not compel, a finding that a non-publication order was necessary to protect the applicant’s safety.”
Media companies, including News Corp Australia, had pointed to prominent interviews Mr Lehrmann conducted with Channel 7’s Spotlight and Sky News Australia.
It was submitted on behalf of the media entities there was an “incongruity between the applicant’s public presentation and what was said about him by the psychologist.”
Justice Applegarth found the magistrate did consider the evidence from the psychologist in her initial decision.
“Rather than lower his public profile and retreat from the media spotlight, the applicant chose for whatever reason to appear more than once on national television and revisit events that had triggered his mental illness in early 2021,” he said in his judgment.
“He seemingly felt well enough to engage with sections of the national media, and to deal with any resulting further coverage he received from the media outlets he appeared on and other media that followed up on his high-profile appearances.
His criminal charges in Toowoomba are not related to the incident at the centre of a separate civil defamation trial involving Mr Lehrmann in the Federal Court in Sydney, which he is appealing.