Updated The Bruce Lehrmann Trials Pt2 * Toowoomba Rape Trial

[Kurve]

Here is PART 1

Historical Rape Allegation Against Fmr AG Christian Porter
The Alexander Matters matters

Just a reminder, this is the crime board and we need to be aware that there will be victims of crime either watching this thread or engaging in here from time to time. A degree of respect in all discussions is expected.

LINK TO TIMELINE
CJS INQUIRY
FINAL REPORT – BOARD OF INQUIRY – CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Joint media statement – Chief Minister and Attorney-General

LINK TO FEDERAL COURT DEFAMATION PROCEEDINGS

 

[Kurve]

So Lehrmann agrees to a scenario where if he wins, Stokes takes the credit but if he loses he is on his own.

Really?

No. Stokes wants to feed off the press.

 

[Lebbo73]

Interesting article from this thread's favourite rag, The Australian, on potential change in sexual assault cases:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/australian-law-reform-commission-probe-to-deal-with-issues-from-brittany-higgins-and-bruce-lehrmann-saga/news-story/5c877e2502c3f7c0914c1fbf08aac472

I've said many times in the past that a more inquisitorial system would be best for these sensitive matters.

I take some issue with the criminal jury being given the "same facts" as the civil trial, because there was even more evidence available to Justice Lee.

The criminal jury are, I assume, armed with pens and notepads, before adjourning under some pressure, being expected to nail a life-changing result in days, or weeks at the most, riding an emotional roller coaster.

Justice Lee had months and a team of staff to work through the micro issues, presumably with the aid of technology and a perfect timeline flow chart (something I feel AI could be very useful for going forward).

I know which judgement system that I'd rather be faced with either as complainant or a defendant.

So, in short, I interpret this as the rich pay compensation to make a sexual assault allegation disappear while the poor go to jail.

 

[Festerz]

Bruce Lehrmann to stand trial on Qld rape charges​

A Toowoomba Magistrates Court has this morning committed Bruce Lehrmann to stand trial for two counts of rape, alleged to have occurred in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in October 2021

He will face a judge or jury in a District court trial on a date to be set.

Mr Lehrmann was excused from attending the court for the committal hearing with his legal team's argument he has no case to answer being rejected.


Edit - more details:

Magistrate Mark Howden on Thursday dismissed a bid by Lehrmann’s barrister to have the case thrown out, finding there was sufficient evidence of a crime having been committed for the matter to proceed to trial in the District Court.

Lehrmann, who participated in the hearing via audio link, is accused of raping a woman twice after a night out in Toowoomba in 2021. The pair had met at The Vault club, before leaving together to spend the night at the home of one of Lehrmann’s friends.

Lehrmann’s barrister, Andrew Hoare KC, on Thursday told Toowoomba Magistrates Court there was consensual sex between Lehrmann and the woman which he argued “contextualised” the events that followed.

Referring to the prosecution’s evidence that the complainant said she “woke up” during the alleged rape, Hoare argued the complainant had consumed alcohol and cocaine, which affected memory.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court the complainant had agreed there was earlier consensual sex, but the charges related to what subsequently occurred and while she had been unconscious.

“What is required is consent to be given to each act of intercourse,” Friedewald said.

Friedewald said the complainant never consented to having sex without a condom and had told Lehrmann to stop attempting to have unprotected sex.

When the woman repositioned her body, forcing Lehrmann off her, the accused resumed his position to rape her, the court was told.

“He was consoling her throughout that act, saying: ‘it’s OK, it’s OK’. He continued having intercourse until he ejaculated inside of her,” Friedewald said.

 

[FIGJAM]

From this thread's favourite rag, The Australian:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/bruce-lehrmann-committed-to-stand-trial-on-toowoomba-rape-charges/news-story/5c5512e528be8b1f1e7fe88f0dd342e1

Ms Friedewald said the woman told police in her initial complaint on November 26 that “she had not yet accepted or come to terms with what had happened to her”.

The prosecutor also submitted text messages between the woman and a friend that occurred in the weeks following the assault.

“I just feel so shameful,” the woman wrote.

The friend responded, noting at the end: “You also need to think about whether you ever would want to report this to police. There are options to do that anonymously too, if you are worried”

The complainant then responded, “What do you mean report it?” to which her friend indicated that the woman had been sexually assaulted.

Ms Friedewald said: “The complainant does not at that time question whether that is in fact true.

“There is no dispute by her or confusion about what happened to her. Rather, what she immediately says is, ‘Who is going to believe me?’.”

All of the above having occurred before she realised that Bryce was Bruce shows someone grappling with a bad situation and hope that the jury / judge can see that.

Based on various articles and Bruce's lawyers' keenness to get a heap of electronic data from the complainant to start with has to do with the fact that they were cordial over Snapchat afterwards. I'm guessing Bruce's lawyers will angle that she only made the complaint after she clocked Bruce and want to spin the narrative of "her just chasing fame", rather than the narrative of her realising that he a serial sex pest.

 

[CD Xbow]

tbh Lehrmann rolled his dice, he should have wondered off into the sunset but like Mr Lee said, he went back into the lion's cage to collect his hat.

He opened himself to it and got smoked in the process.

Agree, rule #7 of a happy life is to quit while you're ahead. Bruce, the rapist, did not.

 

[Festerz]

Agree, rule #7 of a happy life is to quit while you're ahead. Bruce, the rapist, did not.

Nope.

He should have stopped at Rule #1 of being a decent human being.

Don't commit sexual assault.

 

[CD Xbow]

Nope.

He should have stopped at Rule #1 of living a respectful life.

Don't commit sexual assault.

That's covered by rule # 2 Treat everyone with decency and respect.

 

[FIGJAM]

That's covered by rule # 2 Treat everyone with decency and respect.

I think you’re you both referencing ‘The Golden Rule’, which is related to the Eastern concept of karma and is best summed up by the Biblical quote "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; lest ye causeth an omnishambles.".

 

[CD Xbow]

I think you’re you both referencing ‘The Golden Rule’, which is related to the Eastern concept of karma and is best summed up by the Biblical quote "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; lest ye causeth an omnishambles.".

Yes, many idea's about what is wise recur through human history and I am happy to borrow from them. My favorite is when footy coaches say 'concentrate on what you can control'. This is a tenet of modern cognitive behavioural therapy, appears in Buddhism and can be traced back to classical times with the stoics. Humans don't change much.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Agree, rule #7 of a happy life is to quit while you're ahead. Bruce, the rapist, did not.

I certainly agree the guys a bit thick.

 

[GrayRanga]

I certainly agree the guys a bit thick.

Bit thick?

I love your understatement.

And he was a political staffer to a Government Minister?

Merit based employment?

 

[FIGJAM]

There's been a bit of a lull in the 'shambles, but Nine and Murdoch have chipped in some warm-up articles in the lead-in to the August trial:

West Australian senator Linda Reynolds has accused Brittany Higgins of trying to damage the former Coalition minister’s political career by feeding false information to senior Labor figures, in legal claims prompting a spokesperson for the former staffer to say she has been “steadfast in her truth”.

The former defence industry minister is suing Higgins for defamation over July 2023 social media posts, having recently updated her claim to allege Higgins and her now-husband, David Sharaz, had engaged in “conspiracy” that fed parliamentary questioning so “aggressive” it led to Reynolds’ hospitalisation.

Higgins ‘steadfast in truth’ after Reynolds alleges plan

The former defence industry minister is suing Brittany Higgins for defamation over July 2023 social media posts.

www.theage.com.au

"Tortious conspiracy" is now added to my vocabulary:

But The Australian understands in an amended statement of claim, filed on June 27, Senator Reynolds has added a pleading of “tortious conspiracy” that could go to a claim for aggravated damages against the former staffer.

To prove tortious conspiracy, Senator Reynolds’s legal team must show Ms Higgins conspired – through lawful means – with one or more people to injure her.

In the statement of claim, Senator Reynolds claims Anthony Albanese’s closest confidantes, Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong, were drip-fed false information by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz as part of a larger plan to destroy her career and the Morrison government. Part of that plan, Senator Reynolds alleges, included “aggressive questions” asked by Senator Gallagher and Senator Wong in question time in early 2021 that were centred on that false information.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/inside-linda-reynolds-unusual-new-claim-against-brittany-higgins/news-story/7313e0b983cf176761301d21c287ab3e

 

[Kurve]

There's been a bit of a lull in the 'shambles, but Nine and Murdoch have chipped in some warm-up articles in the lead-in to the August trial:

Higgins ‘steadfast in truth’ after Reynolds alleges plan

The former defence industry minister is suing Brittany Higgins for defamation over July 2023 social media posts.

www.theage.com.au

"Tortious conspiracy" is now added to my vocabulary:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/inside-linda-reynolds-unusual-new-claim-against-brittany-higgins/news-story/7313e0b983cf176761301d21c287ab3e

Oh look MPMonkeys

Reynolds has actually claimed a tortious conspiracy! How absurd.

 

[BFew]

"Tortious conspiracy" is now added to my vocabulary:

I can confirm that this legal phrase has never been seen on BF public threads before (unless it was deleted or so long ago that the BF search does not pick it up).

 

[Lady O]

I can confirm that this legal phrase has never been seen on BF public threads before (unless it was deleted or so long ago that the BF search does not pick it up).

Looked it up.

 

[FIGJAM]

I can confirm that this legal phrase has never been seen on BF public threads before (unless it was deleted or so long ago that the BF search does not pick it up).

The word tortious has been used on BigFooty and as a encouraging sign for humanity, mostly used correctly.

Of course there are some predictive text issues with regards to misspellings of 'tortoise' and 'tortuous'. An example would be "Watching Collingwood's midfield in 2004 was like watching a tortious and quite tortious.".

 

[Lady O]

The word tortious has been used on BigFooty and as a encouraging sign for humanity, mostly used correctly.

Of course there are some predictive text issues with regards to misspellings of 'tortoise' and 'tortuous'. An example would be "Watching Collingwood's midfield in 2004 was like watching a tortious and quite tortious.".

 

[Kurve]

There's been a bit of a lull in the 'shambles, but Nine and Murdoch have chipped in some warm-up articles in the lead-in to the August trial:

Higgins ‘steadfast in truth’ after Reynolds alleges plan

The former defence industry minister is suing Brittany Higgins for defamation over July 2023 social media posts.

www.theage.com.au

"Tortious conspiracy" is now added to my vocabulary:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/inside-linda-reynolds-unusual-new-claim-against-brittany-higgins/news-story/7313e0b983cf176761301d21c287ab3e

Wasn't this already sorted out between Reynolds, Gallagher and Wong in Senate estimates?

West Australian senator Linda Reynolds has accused Brittany Higgins of trying to damage the former Coalition minister’s political career by feeding false information to senior Labor figures, in legal claims prompting a spokesperson for the former staffer to say she has been “steadfast in her truth”.

In the statement of claim, Senator Reynolds claims Anthony Albanese’s closest confidantes, Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong, were drip-fed false information by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz as part of a larger plan to destroy her career and the Morrison government. Part of that plan, Senator Reynolds alleges, included “aggressive questions” asked by Senator Gallagher and Senator Wong in question time in early 2021 that were centred on that false information.

 

[Lady O]

Wasn't this already sorted out between Reynolds, Gallagher and Wong in Senate estimates?

West Australian senator Linda Reynolds has accused Brittany Higgins of trying to damage the former Coalition minister’s political career by feeding false information to senior Labor figures, in legal claims prompting a spokesperson for the former staffer to say she has been “steadfast in her truth”.

In the statement of claim, Senator Reynolds claims Anthony Albanese’s closest confidantes, Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong, were drip-fed false information by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz as part of a larger plan to destroy her career and the Morrison government. Part of that plan, Senator Reynolds alleges, included “aggressive questions” asked by Senator Gallagher and Senator Wong in question time in early 2021 that were centred on that false information.

Justice Lee found otherwise.

 

[FIGJAM]

Justice Lee found otherwise.

Wasn’t there a ‘Greta’ Gallagher “How dare you?!” moment, before it was later found out that she misled Parlianent?

 

[Lady O]

Wasn’t there a ‘Greta’ Gallagher “How dare you?!” moment, before it was later found out that she misled Parlianent?

I think this is to do with Higgins et al and not The Mean Girls.

 

[Kurve]

Justice Lee found otherwise.

He did? Do you have a link or anything for that? I must have missed it.

 

[Lady O]

He did? Do you have a link or anything for that? I must have missed it.

"Justice Lee also found claims of a political cover-up involving Senator Reynolds and others were not true, a finding Senator Reynolds said vindicated her." https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/huge-update-in-higgins-defamation-case/ar-BB1oUy9e

"But Justice Lee debunked allegations of a cover-up by members of the then-government, criticising Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz for having "crafted a narrative" and accusing others — including federal ministers — of "putting up roadblocks" and making her choose between her career and justice. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04...ts-to-lehrmann-defamation-judgement/103733876

"Senator Reynolds said she was "disappointed" about Tuesday's outcome, although she said "all parties" needed to acknowledge the rulings of Justice Michael Lee, who found in his judgement against Mr Lehrmann there had been no political cover-up of Ms Higgins' rape claim." https://www.skynews.com.au/australi...n/news-story/9417bb5114260f62c9731f6a101466f8

 

[Kurve]

"Justice Lee also found claims of a political cover-up involving Senator Reynolds and others were not true, a finding Senator Reynolds said vindicated her." https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/huge-update-in-higgins-defamation-case/ar-BB1oUy9e

"But Justice Lee debunked allegations of a cover-up by members of the then-government, criticising Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz for having "crafted a narrative" and accusing others — including federal ministers — of "putting up roadblocks" and making her choose between her career and justice. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04...ts-to-lehrmann-defamation-judgement/103733876

"Senator Reynolds said she was "disappointed" about Tuesday's outcome, although she said "all parties" needed to acknowledge the rulings of Justice Michael Lee, who found in his judgement against Mr Lehrmann there had been no political cover-up of Ms Higgins' rape claim." https://www.skynews.com.au/australi...n/news-story/9417bb5114260f62c9731f6a101466f8

But what does this have to do with a tortious conspiracy?

 

[Lady O]

But what does this have to do with a tortious conspiracy?

#865