Overview
- Lehrmann has filed a special leave application alleging Justice Michael Lee relied on academic materials not in evidence, compromising key findings in the defamation case.
- The filing asks the High Court to set aside both the Full Court and original rulings, enter judgment for Lehrmann on liability, and refer damages for assessment, or alternatively remit the case to a new panel.
- In December, the Full Federal Court dismissed his appeal and went further by accepting that he had actual knowledge that Brittany Higgins did not consent.
- Justice Lee’s 2024 judgment had found, on the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann raped Higgins in 2019 inside Parliament House, a claim he continues to deny.
- Lehrmann faces a deferred order to pay about $2 million in Network 10’s costs, which the court has heard he is unlikely to be able to pay.