I felt like I was on trial: Brittany Higgins lashes justice system ‘stacked against’ victims

Brittany Higgins has criticised a justice system ‘stacked against’ alleged sexual-assault victims.

Brittany Higgins leaves the ACT Supreme Court in Canberra after Chief Justice Lucy McCallum declared a mistrial on Thursday morning. Picture: Gary Ramage

An emotional Brittany Higgins has declared she felt like the ­person on trial as she criticised a justice system “stacked against” alleged sexual-assault victims and argued she had faced more scrutiny in court than her accused ­attacker, former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum aborted the trial on Thursday, dismissing the jury, which was about to enter its sixth day of deliberation, after an academic paper on sexual assault was found by court officials among a juror’s documents.

Mr Lehrmann, who has pleaded not guilty and denies all allegations, was given bail pending a new trial scheduled for February 20. Ms Higgins, speaking after the trial had been aborted, lashed out at both the courts and the media. She said her case showed why sexual-assault victims rarely took their cases to police.

But Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers accused Ms Higgins of contempt of court hours later and referred her to both the Australian Federal Police and the ACT Supreme Court. The 27-year-old former Liberal Party staffer, visibly upset and trembling, said she knew when she entered into the legal process that the “odds were stacked against me”.

“I chose to speak up – to speak up against rape, to speak up against injustice, speak up and share my experiences with others,” she said.

“I told the truth, no matter how uncomfortable or unflattering that truth was.

“This outcome does not change that truth.” Ms Higgins said that she now understood “how asymmetrical the criminal justice system is”.

“I was required to tell the truth under oath for over a week on the witness stand,” she said.

“I was cross-examined while he was afforded the choice of staying silent in court, head down in a notebook, completely detached.”

Ms Higgins said Mr Lehrmann “never faced one question” during proceedings. “I was required to surrender my telephones, my passwords, messages, photos and my data to him,” she said.

Brittany Higgins with her partner, David Sharaz, in Canberra on Thursday. Picture: Gary Ramage

“He wasn’t required to produce his telephones, photos, passwords, messages or his data.

“My life has been publicly scrutinised for the world to see. His was not.”

Ms Higgins wiped away tears as she spoke about how Mr Lehrmann’s rape trial had wrongly been dubbed the “Higgins trial”.

“But I don’t blame you because it’s very clear who has been on trial,” she said.

“He hasn’t been held accountable for his actions or his story.

“This is the reality of how complainants in sexual assault cases are treated.

“Their lives are torn apart. Their friends and families are called to take the stand. And the accused has the legal right to say absolutely nothing.”

Soon after, Mr Lehrmann’s legal team revealed they were seeking “urgent legal advice” about Ms Higgins’ comments, which, they said, had the potential to pervert the course of justice or be in contempt of court ahead of their client’s retrial.

Mr Lehrmann’s barrister, Steven Whybrow, then released a statement saying the complainant and her legal team heard Justice McCallum’s strong warning that commenting further on the case “could prejudice a fair trial” for their client, which is due to start in less than four months.

“Notwithstanding Her Honour’s admonition, the complainant proceeded to give what appears to have been a pre-prepared speech to the media outside the court,” he said.

“We have brought these comments to the attention of the court and the Australian Federal Police, and it is not appropriate for Mr Lehrmann or his lawyers to make any comment as to whether the complainant’s statements might amount to a contempt of court or offences against the ACT Criminal Code.”

The AFP and Justice McCallum declined to comment.

During her comments outside court, Ms Higgins called the rate of conviction for sexual offenders “our national shame”.

“The criminal justice system has long failed to deliver outcomes for victims of sexual assault,” she said. “In the ACT during 2020, only 16 per cent of sexual offences reported to police resulted in a charge. And of that, only half that number again resulted in a conviction. That is our national shame.”

Ms Higgins also thanked “the other women who came forward and shared their own experiences”.

“I believe you and you were with me every day I walked into that courtroom and faced him,” she said.

“I want to thank the people of Australia who have rallied behind me and those who chose to attend the March 4 Justice, and I want to thank the workers in Canberra’s health care system. Without you, I literally wouldn’t be here today.”

Ms Higgins’ statement came after the high-profile trial came to an abrupt end on Thursday morning following a report of suspected misconduct by one of the jurors.

It was revealed that a court sheriff’s chance sighting of an academic paper on sexual assault, inside the juror’s clear plastic folder, ultimately aborted the trial.

Justice McCallum told the court it “has regrettably been necessary” to discharge the entire panel after a juror conducted their own research into the case and took that material into the deliberating room.

“During routine tidying of the jury room by three sheriff’s officers after the conclusion of proceedings yesterday, one of the officers accidentally bumped one of the jurors’ document folders on to the floor,” she said. “Those document folders are plastic boxes with a clear front. When the sheriff’s officer picked up the folder …. they noticed that part of the title page was an academic research paper that suggested the topic of the paper might be sexual assault.” The officers brought the paper to the judge’s attention and her associates investigated.

“By searching the date and publisher of that paper, my associates were able to identify what ­appeared to be the article in question,” she said.

“The subject matter of the paper is, indeed, sexual assault.

“Specifically, it is a discussion about the unhelpfulness of attempting to quantify the prevalence of false complaints of sexual assault and a deeper analysis of the reason for both false complaints and scepticism in the face of true complaints. It could be used to argue for either side in the case.”

The juror, who was not identified, provided an explanation to the judge in closed court. However, Justice McCallum said she was sceptical about that response.

“During the course of the trial, on this issue, I must have given the jury at least 17 warnings and prohibitions on undertaking any research of their own,” she said.

“I’ve said it’s extremely important that you’re not undertaking inquiries of your own in relation to these proceedings.”

She said jurors should have only be “learning about this trial from the evidence in this trial” heard in her presence.

Justice McCallum said the material might not have had an impact on deliberations, but that she could not take that risk.

“In these circumstances, I have discharged that juror and I have to discharge you all,” she said.

“This is an unexpected and unfortunate outcome in this trial.”

Mr Lehrmann sat in room SC3, staring straight ahead or scrolling his phone, as the media filed into the public gallery just before 9.45am. He nervously tugged at his tie and took deep breaths while waiting for the judge to arrive. He removed his glasses and pressed his fingers to his eyes when, just minutes before court was due to start, the defence and prosecution lawyers were called into Justice McCallum’s chambers.

Soon after, Ms Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, entered the courtroom with PR consultant Emma Webster, who helped Ms Higgins “war-game” her media strategy before her rape allegations were published in February 2021.

Mr Lehrmann stared intently at Mr Sharaz – who he told police had messaged him out of the blue on Twitter in early 2021 – as he took his seat in the public gallery.

Seconds after Justice McCallum entered the courtroom, Ms Higgins walked in with her lawyer Leon Zwier and ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates.