General Discussions

[DJC]

Justice Michael Lee has found that Lehrmann raped Higgins.  This is on the balance of probabilities rather than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.

Lehrmann's multi-million dollar defamation case has been dismissed.

I'm not sure whether Lehrmann is now officially a scumbag but he will be significantly out of pocket.

[Lods]

"Escaped the Lion's Den and went back for his hat"

If he is in fact a 'tool', he's not the sharpest one in the shed.

[madbluboy]

She was pashing him in the bar and then went back with him to do some paperwork lol.

They're both liars.

[DJC]

She was pashing him in the bar and then went back with him to do some paperwork lol.

They're both liars.

I like Justice Lee's opening remarks:

“An astute observer would have gleaned from the trial this case is not as straightforward as some might suggest.”

The judge said that “only one man and one woman know the truth with certitude,” but they are “two people who are both in different ways unreliable historians”.

“People give unreliable evidence for various reasons and distinguishing between a false memory and a lie can be difficult.”

However, the bottom line is that Justice Lee found that "In his [Lehrmann's] pursuit of gratification, he did not care one way or the other whether Ms Higgins understood or agreed to what was going on."

As Higgins so eloquently put it when asked by a parliamentary staffer whether Lehrmann had raped her, “I could not have consented. It would have been like f---ing a log.”

[Baggers]

She was pashing him in the bar and then went back with him to do some paperwork lol.

They're both liars.

A big leap from 'pashing' to sexual intercourse with someone who is drunk. Kissing is not consent to going a lot further.

[madbluboy]

A big leap from 'pashing' to sexual intercourse with someone who is drunk. Kissing is not consent to going a lot further.

She looked happy going back with him. She was clearly drunk but far from being close to unconscious which she claimed.

[Thryleon]

Yeah I call BS on her being passed out blackout drunk.  I think they both knew what they were going back to the office for.

[dodge]

Panel of judges ripped into both as rubbish witnesses (Lehrmann more than Higgins) Ch10 lawyers for bad advice,  Wilkinson for her speech that delayed(?) the initial trial,  Morrison for his response.

The next two cases will be interesting Reynolds v Higgins, Lehrmann separate tape trial. Talk about messy.

[DJC]

Yeah I call BS on her being passed out blackout drunk.  I think they both knew what they were going back to the office for.

Fair enough, and you're basing that assumption on the body of evidence presented to the court or just pure speculation?

She was found comatose on a couch in the Minister's office by an independent witness.  That is not in dispute.

The judge specifically mentioned the number of drinks Lehrmann bought her and the likelihood that she was given more alcohol at Parliament House.  Witnesses testified to the fact that she was nissed as a pewt including being unable to put her shoes on after going through security.

Somehow, Justice Lee's statement that he was “comfortably satisfied” that Higgins was a “very drunk young woman” is far more compelling than some random calling BS 

It's enlightening to read Justice Lee's points of proof that led him to conclude that Lehrmann had raped Higgins.

[DJC]

"Escaped the Lion's Den and went back for his hat"

If he is in fact a 'tool', he's not the sharpest one in the shed.

Apart from an encyclopedic knowledge of the law, an analytical mind, and an ability to detect bullshit, it helps if a judge has a turn of phrase and a bit of the raconteur.  Justice Lee summed up Lehrmann's folly perfectly with his Lion's Den analogy.