Heat on ACT DPP Shane Drumgold over Bruce Lehrmann rape trial conduct
Pressure is mounting on ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold, with the terms of reference of an inquiry widened to include his conduct.
Pressure is mounting on ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold over his handling of Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial, with the terms of reference of the Sofronoff inquiry widened to include his conduct in the preparation of the proceedings and in the hearings.
The official inquiry into the case, chaired by Walter Sofronoff KC, was already tasked with examining whether Mr Drumgold, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, breached his duties in deciding to commence, continue and then discontinue criminal proceedings against Mr Lehrmann over the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins and, if so, the reasons and motives for his actions.
The change to the terms of reference was authorised by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury on Friday.
The original terms of reference contained a power to investigate “any matter reasonably incidental to any of the above matters”, but it is understood information now before the inquiry was regarded as so serious that a specific reference was required.
The inquiry is also tasked with examining the conduct of police and the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner, but those terms of reference have not changed.
Mr Sofronoff has been given a month’s extension so he will now deliver his report by July 31, following delays in the production of thousands of documents.
Submissions to the inquiry have not yet been released but The Weekend Australian understands there are several new lines of inquiry regarding Mr Drumgold’s conduct in the hearings.
A key witness in the trial accused Mr Drumgold of threatening and intimidating her as she left the witness box on a morning tea break, and of ignoring her pleas to be recalled to the stand to refute what she alleged was “blatantly false and misleading” evidence by Ms Higgins.
Former Liberal staffer Fiona Brown said Mr Drumgold and an associate berated her for providing “inadmissable evidence” and that the DPP then tried to use her mental health to discredit her as a witness. In a formal complaint to the ACT Bar Association, Ms Brown also alleged that, prior to the trial, Mr Drumgold was so dismissive of her concerns about the potential impact of the upcoming Logies – where TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson’s interview with Ms Higgins was up for an award – that it caused her to break down emotionally during a conference with him.
During the trial in the ACT Supreme Court last year, Ms Higgins gave evidence that she felt pressured by her chief of staff, Ms Brown, and her boss, Liberal minister Linda Reynolds, not to pursue the alleged assault, in the context of a looming federal election. Ms Brown strongly denied in evidence that she had been anything but supportive of Ms Higgins, saying she and Senator Reynolds had told Ms Higgins she was within her rights to make a police complaint and would be fully supported.
But in a complaint lodged with the ACT Bar Association, Ms Brown said that during a morning tea break “Mr Drumgold and his associate approached me and berated me, stating that I was coming close to providing inadmissable evidence because of the way I was answering the questions”. “I felt threatened and intimidated,” Ms Brown said.
Another area of inquiry for Mr Sofronoff is expected to involve dispute about a conversation between Mr Drumgold and Wilkinson prior to the Logies. It is understood Wilkinson denies being “expressly warned” by Mr Drumgold about giving the Logies speech.
In a letter to ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, Channel 10 boss Beverly McGarvey said “neither Ms Wilkinson nor the Network Ten senior legal counsel present at the conference with the DPP on June 15 2022 understood that they had been cautioned that Ms Wilkinson giving an acceptance speech at the Logie awards could result in an application being made to the court to vacate the trial date”. “Had they understood that a specific warning had been given, Ms Wilkinson would not have given that speech,” she said.
Chief Justice McCallum was forced to delay the trial for several months following the speech and the media coverage that followed, noting that she did so “with gritted teeth”.
A further matter likely to be examined by the inquiry surrounds Mr Drumgold’s attack on Senator Reynolds, who was accused in court of “coaching” Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers.
Mr Drumgold put it to Senator Reynolds that she texted defence lawyer Steve Whybrow before his cross examination, suggesting he look at texts between Ms Higgins and a friend.
“What was your motive in attempting to coach the cross examination?” he asked.
“That’s not what I was seeking to do”, Senator Reynolds replied.
“You are clearly politically invested in the outcome of this trial,’’ Mr Drumgold said.
Mr Whybrow is understood to have regarded the attack as unfair and inappropriate, given that it was he who had voluntarily brought the text to Mr Drumgold’s attention.
The inquiry is also expected to look at disparaging remarks Mr Drumgold made about the police investigators during the trial, including that “the skill sets of those police officers was not high”.
Mr Lehrmann has at all times denied the allegations against him.
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