Bruce Lehrmann seeks High Court leave to appeal rape finding

Bruce Lehrmann has applied to the High Court for special leave, arguing earlier findings that he raped Brittany Higgins in 2019 were compromised by the trial judge's independent research. The High Court will decide whether to grant permission to appeal.

Bruce Lehrmann has filed an application to the High Court seeking special leave to appeal findings that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. The allegation was publicly reported by Higgins in 2021 and has led to multiple legal proceedings since. Lehrmann's filing says the primary judge, Michael Lee, carried out his own research and relied on material outside the agreed evidence. The Federal Court full bench dismissed Lehrmann's earlier appeal in December. Current facts: - Brittany Higgins told media in 2021 that she had been raped in Parliament House in 2019; the interview did not name the alleged assailant. - A 2022 criminal prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann was aborted because of juror misconduct and the charges were later dropped with prosecutors saying a retrial posed risks to Higgins' health. - Lehrmann has applied for special leave to the High Court, arguing Judge Michael Lee's findings were compromised by extraneous research and that the Full Court relied on those compromised findings. Summary: Lehrmann's application asks the High Court to set aside both the primary judge's findings and the Full Court's decision on the basis the primary judge used extraneous material. The High Court must decide whether to grant special leave to appeal. Undetermined at this time.