It's always nice when the 13th Juror endorses one's comments.
"Justice McCallum took the Jury through what the prosecurors claimed were Lehrmann's four reasons for visiting Parliament House - and the three they alleged were 'lies.
In a recording played in court his (sic) month, Lehrmann had told security he was at parliament to pick up documents. He later told police, in a recorded interview in 2021, he was there to pick up his keys and to tend to Question Time documents,
Mr Drumgold told the jury Lehrmann's 'freudian slip' came in meetings with his bosses days after the alleged rape when he told them he went to parliament 'to drink whiskey.'
'The prosecution invites you to conclude that, apart from drinking whiskey, all of those were lies,' Justice McCallum told the jury.
Finally, the judge summarised Lehrmann's defence noting he had not given evidence in court, and it was his right not to do so, and the burden of proof remained at all times on the prosecutor, not the accused.
She noted Lehrmann said nothing had happened between himself and Ms Higgins and there was no forensic evidence they had sex - with or without consent.
'If you think it's reasonably possible that nothing happened, you must acquit, she told the jury.'
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the jury there was 'no blueprint for life and no blueprint for sexual assault and how a young woman misght respond to sexual assualt, in her summary.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, summing up the evidence for the jury on Wednesday said jurors could look at the way Ms Higgins told other people about her alleged rape to assess her credibility.
'We search for consistency....as a badge of honesty,' she said. 'You might consider whether Higgins was consistent in the allegations that she had been sexually assaulted even though her circumstances changed.'
Justice McCallum said a jury 'must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt the witness is both honest and accurate in the account that she's given.'"
There ya go. The 13th Juror speaks, and that is something neither Counsel can control.
That 13th Juror, the Judge, has judicially dumped on Lehrmann, but in such a way, as the smart ones always do, as not to be overtly disposed one way or the other so as to trigger an appeal because of partiality.
Still, the Jury can ignore what they reckon the Judge thinks.
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Trial of Brittany Higgins's alleged rapist begins (Read 35951 times)
