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CCTV showing Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins at a bar in Canberra on March 22, 2019.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Spotlight, Channel Seven<\/cite><\/p>\n He told the court in which he is currently suing Network Ten for defamation that he had lied to Brown about the whisky because she had recently admonished him for a separate security breach, and he believed she would have taken less kindly to him returning to the office to work than going in to access his alcohol.<\/p>\n \u201cBut why?\u201d Ten\u2019s barrister Matthew Collins KC asked Lehrmann.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had said I\u2019d accessed documents at that time, Fiona Brown would have taken the view that was very serious,\u201d he said. \u201cI was not prepared to take that risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Higgins\u2019 account of that evening has been relentlessly scrutinised, in media interviews, speeches and Lehrmann\u2019s aborted criminal trial. She claims that Lehrmann raped her on the couch in the office of their boss, Senator Linda Reynolds. Lehrmann has launched defamation proceedings against Network Ten for airing the claims, as well as journalist Lisa Wilkinson, who sported a Kermit-green suit to watch day three of the proceedings.<\/p>\n Journalist Lisa Wilkinson left the Federal Court on Friday flanked by her barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, and Ten\u2019s barrister Matthew Collins.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n But this has exposed him to rigorous public scrutiny for the first time. He adopted the approach taken by most defendants at his criminal trial and chose not to give evidence, so his version of events has only been aired in a limited way: the pieces of his police interview that were pulled out for the jury at his criminal trial, and a paid interview on Seven\u2019s Spotlight<\/em> program.<\/p>\n Cross-examining Lehrmann on Friday, Collins turned next to the items he had on his person when he left work earlier in the evening of March 22, 2019. Lehrmann told his own barrister on Wednesday that when he left the office, he had only intended to have a couple of beers at the Kingston Hotel and head back to work. That was why he had to go back to Parliament House on his way home – because he didn\u2019t have his keys on him. Then he had spotted some question time folders and decided to do some work.<\/p>\n Why then, Collins asked, had he not brought his work security pass with him?<\/p>\n \u201cIt happens,\u201d Lehrmann replied.<\/p>\n Then it came to the consumption of alcohol at The Dock Hotel, where Lehrmann and his colleague kicked on after the Kingston and met Higgins. He was certain in his evidence on Wednesday and Thursday that he had only bought one round of drinks for himself and his colleague. His bank records showed he had only spent $16 and he never used cash.<\/p>\n Bruce Lehrmann leaves the Federal Court on Friday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n But by Friday morning he was not certain about whether he bought Higgins a drink.<\/p>\n \u201cBe very careful about it, Mr Lehrmann,\u201d Collins warned.<\/p>\n Lehrmann floundered. Two rounds or two drinks? Perhaps he did buy her a drink. He decided to take up the judge\u2019s offer of a break. \u201cMy mind is a blank at the moment,\u201d Lehrmann said.<\/p>\n After a 15-minute break, he recalled that he had bought her a vodka.<\/p>\n Some CCTV footage served to jog his memory further. The footage showed Lehrmann buying several drinks with a card that he handed over the bar, and handing spirit-based drinks to Higgins. In one frame, he pushed three drinks to the corner of a table nearest to her.<\/p>\n Collins suggested to Lehrmann that he said: \u201cAll hers, all hers.\u201d<\/p>\n Brittany Higgins at the ACT Supreme Court last year. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n In another frame, he gestured towards a drink and Collins suggested that he said the words, \u201cDrink it all, you can\u2019t leave that, come on, you\u2019re not leaving that\u201d.<\/p>\n Lehrmann denied saying either of these things.<\/p>\n But when it came to his behaviour towards Higgins, Lehrmann\u2019s story hardened. He denied putting his arm around Higgins and denied kissing her. Reminded that he had told police he could not recall if he had engaged in any intimate behaviour at all, he said that was because of the way the question had been framed. If there was any flirtation with Higgins it was \u201cvery minimal\u201d, he said. \u201cNothing that would indicate an attraction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour evidence to His Honour today is you have a crystal clear memory that you did not engage in any conduct that was intimate with Ms Higgins,\u201d Collins clarified.<\/p>\n On this, they could agree.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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