Federal Court Justice Michael Lee will hand down his decision in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Lisa Wilkinson and Channel Ten at 10.15am today.
Mr Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings over an episode of The Project in February 2021, during which Brittany Higgins went public with her rape allegations for the first time in an interview with Wilkinson.
He was not named in the broadcast but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has always maintained his innocence.
The month-long trial was heard in December, with judgment initially set down for April 4.
However, the matter was reopened in early April after Network Ten successfully argued there was new evidence from former Channel Seven employee Taylor Auerbach which was not available during the trial.
Mr Auerbach was on the team at Seven’s Spotlight program when it secured exclusive interviews with Mr Lehrmann, which aired in June and August last year.
It was during those two interviews that classified information from Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial was broadcast on national television.
The confidential material included Ms Higgins’ private texts and CCTV of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entering Parliament House before she was allegedly raped in March 2019.
The leaked information had originally been collected by Australian Federal Police during the investigation into Ms Higgins’ rape allegations and was protected under the Harman undertaking, which meant it could not be used for anything other than court proceedings.
Mr Auerbach, who left his job at Seven last year, reportedly claimed in his affidavit that Mr Lehrmann was the source of the confidential material.
Mr Lehrmann has denied in court that he was the source of the leaked content.
Mr Auerbach was cross-examined by Mr Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC, during which he claimed Channel Seven covered Mr Lehrmann’s costs for drugs and sex workers.
Mr Lehrmann and Channel Seven have denied those claims.