REVEALED: What rogue juror who sparked mistrial in the Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann case told the judge
- Juror brought banned materials to deliberations
- The material looked at frequency of false rape claims
- Conversation between juror and judge has been released
A juror who was responsible for the complete collapse of the rape trial against Bruce Lehrmann told the judge they were ‘deeply sorry’ for bringing banned materials into the jury room.
Mr Lehrmann was tried before a 12-person jury in the ACT Supreme Court in October last year over allegations that he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in March 2019.
He had pleaded not guilty and continues to maintain his innocence.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum discharged the 12-person jury because one member brought research material into the deliberation room about the frequency of false complaints in sexual assault matters.
Bruce Lehrmann was tried before a 12-person jury in the ACT Supreme Court in October last year over allegations that he raped Brittany Higgins
The juror, who cannot be identified, was questioned by the Justice McCallum in a private hearing.
A transcript of that hearing has now been released by the Board of Inquiry during an investigation into the way the trial was handled by prosecutors and police.
According to a transcript of the exchange, the juror told the judge: ‘I am deeply sorry for this.
‘I’m willing to take responsibility for that, Your Honour, if you feel that that’s appropriate,’ the juror said.
Justice McCallum responded: ‘That’s a matter for you, but I do remind you that it’s an offence to disclose your deliberations.
‘So I would prefer you to preserve your anonymity.’
Mr Lehrmann’s case was heard in the ACT Supreme Court in October last year, but the jury was eventually dismissed after a court officer found banned research material in a folder which belonged to a single juror.
A retrial was scheduled for February this year, but the case was eventually abandoned due to concerns over Ms Higgins’ mental health. Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.
Mr Lehrmann’s defence lawyer will face further questions at the independent inquiry into how the ACT justice system handled the rape allegations.
Steven Whybrow is expected on Tuesday to expand on his evidence that a senior police investigator who said he would resign if Mr Lehrmann was found guilty experienced a ‘moral trauma’ by the end of the trial.
Mr Whybrow told the inquiry he did not get the impression police had acted unprofessionally during the investigation or trial.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum discharged the 12-person jury because one member brought research material into the deliberation room
But he had never had a senior officer tell him they would resign over a verdict, which is what happened during a meeting with ACT Police detective inspector Marcus Boorman while the jury was still deliberating.
“In relation to Detective Inspector Boorman, he was somewhat stressed (and) my impression was a sort of moral trauma,” Mr Whybrow said on Monday.
“He expressed the view that he thought (Mr Lehrmann) was innocent.”
The inquiry, led by former Queensland solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff, is examining the actions of ACT police, prosecutors and a victim support service during the high-profile investigation and trial.
It was established after accusations by police and prosecutors about each other’s conduct during the case.
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold called for a public inquiry because of what he believed was a “passion” from investigators for the prosecution to fail.
But Mr Whybrow disagreed with Mr Drumgold’s assessment of police behaviour.
