Latest news with #ZaliBurrows
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Major update as Bruce Lehrmann denies charge in fresh court hearing
Bruce Lehrmann fronted Hobart Magistrates Court in Tasmania on Thursday to plead not guilty to a charge of stealing a motor vehicle. The ex-Liberal staffer - who was accused of raping Brittany Higgins in a Canberra parliamentary office - appeared by phone link with his lawyer Zali Burrows. It's alleged he stole a Toyota Prado from a rural property in the Huon Valley area in Tasmania's south, about 30km south-east of Hobart, on November 20 last year. According to court documents, the charge of motor vehicle stealing was brought against Lehrmann by Gail Denise Oates. Lehrmann appeared to raise the ire of magistrate Reg Marron after the first attempt to get him on the phone failed, with Ms Burrows suggesting he may not have answered because it was an unknown number. 'We've got a room full of people here ready to go, when we ring back please make sure he's ready to go,' said Magistrate Marron. The matter was adjourned for mention to September 19 at 10am. State prosecutor Bune Kokeo applied for Lehrmann to be forced to attend his next appearance in person. But the magistrate denied it, saying he could not see a good reason why Lehrmann 'should be put through that'. His court appearance comes just weeks after it was revealed that Lehrmann is now working as a full-time, live-in nanny. He has reportedly found his 'happy sanctuary', living with a close family friend and their two children. The children, who at the time of initial reporting were aged under 10, call him 'The Manny' and 'Uncle Bruce'. It's understood Lehrmann took the unpaid role in exchange for a space in the family's home, following two criminal court cases and a defamation trial defeat which left his reputation and finances in tatters. He relies on Centrelink benefits, and was hired by the family almost 19 months ago. A recently revealed photo showed Lehrman smiling directly at the camera while sitting next to a child holding a popcorn box branded with the Village Cinemas logo. 'Bruce relishes the trusted role he has in the children's lives, and the family really adores him,' lawyer Zali Burrows told The Daily Telegraph. 'It's been a safe, happy sanctuary, away from the mental and financial turmoil.' In August 2021, Lehrmann was identified as the Liberal Party staffer accused of raping Ms Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019. Ms Higgins shared her alleged sexual assault with Channel 10 journalist Lisa Wilkinson in an interview aired on The Project. Lehrmann has always denied the allegations. Lehrmann faced a rape trial at the ACT Supreme Court in late 2022 but the case was dropped after a juror brought outside research into the deliberation room. A retrial was abandoned over concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health. In 2023, Lehrmann launched legal proceedings against Wilkinson and Channel 10, claiming he'd been defamed by The Project episode. The ruling in that lawsuit left Lehrmann in ruin with Justice Michael Lee finding that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Ms Higgins. He now faces bankruptcy after costs were awarded against him but he has appealed the ruling with the case to go before the Federal Court of Australia in August. Lehrmann is also fighting allegations he raped a woman in Queensland in 2021. The woman alleged Lehrmann assaulted her twice the following morning after they met in a Toowoomba strip club the previous night. She claimed she and Lehrmann ingested cocaine during the night out and had consensual sex at a house in east Toowoomba about 4am. The woman alleged she was woken about 10am by Lehrmann sexually assaulting her. Lehrmann's former defence barrister Andrew Hoare previously said at a committal hearing that the alleged victim was too intoxicated to remember giving consent and Lehrmann could have mistakenly believed he had consent for further sex acts. The case is set to return to court on June 20.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- News.com.au
Bruce Lehrmann enters plea in car theft case
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to stealing a car. Mr Lehrmann, 30, and his high-profile Sydney criminal lawyer, Zali Burrows, appeared via phone in Hobart Magistrates Court on Thursday morning. The first attempt to get Mr Lehrmann on the phone was unsuccessful with his lawyer saying he likely didn't answer because it was an unknown number. Magistrate Reg Marron told Ms Burrows: 'We've got a room full of people here ready to go, when we ring back please make sure he's ready to go.' Mr Lehrmann answered on the second attempt. Once everyone was on the call Ms Burrows proceeded to take issue with the material Tasmanian Police had provided her to date. She said the name of the complainant – Gail Oates – had been blacked out of the documents she had been provided. 'The present concern is the police statement redacts the name of Ms Oates,' she said. Ms Burrows said earlier media reports had included Ms Oates saying Mr Lehrmann allegedly stole her car and that these were: 'Sub-judice' and 'contempt'. She said she would be filing an application for a stay of proceedings. A stay of prosecution occurs when the case against a person has been prejudiced to the extent that it can not fairly proceed. State prosecutor Bune Kokeo said any application for a stay would be strongly opposed. He then submitted that Magistate Marron should request a plea. 'The issue right now is that the police have redacted the statement,' Ms Burrows said. 'I don't understand why it's such a national secret.' In response the prosecution tendered a list outlining all documents that had been provided to the defence to date. Magistrate Marron then told Ms Burrows things were different in Tasmania. 'Down here prosecution do things differently,' he said. He went on to say that in Tasmania people who are charged with a criminal offence are initially provided with less evidence than in other Australian jurisdictions. And it is only after a plea of not guilty is entered that the full prosecution is disclosed. Magistrate Marron ended by saying he does not hold it against defendants if they request to see the full file by pleading not guilty. Ms Burrows then entered a not guilty plea on behalf of her client. In a final parting shot the prosecutor applied for Mr Lehrmann to be forced to attend in person when the matter came back before court. The reasons why Mr Lehrmann appeared by phone were unclear but Magistrate Marron denied the application saying he could not see a good reason why Mr Lehrmann: 'Should be put through that.' The matter will next appear on September 19. Meanwhile Mr Lehrmann's continues to pursue an appeal against a defamation judgment against him, in Sydney. In 2023, Mr Lehrmann sued Network Ten and television presenter Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over a story that aired on the recently-cancelled show The Project. Justice Michael Lee found that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. A criminal prosecution against Mr Lehrmann was abandoned in October 2022 over juror misconduct. After finding it was true that Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins, Justice Lee later ordered him to pay $2 million worth of legal costs to Network Ten. Mr Lehrmann had a procedural win in his appeal in October last year, when Justice Wendy Abrahams – who is hearing his appeal - ordered he would not have to pay $200,000 of that money before his appeal proceeded. And because Mr Lehrmann is on Centrelink benefits, Justice Abrahams found any attempt to retrieve the money he owed Network Ten would simply bankrupt him. Justice Abrahams also allowed the appeal to go ahead without forcing Mr Lehrmann to put up money to secure the costs of Wilkinson and Network Ten.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Bruce Lehrmann pleads not guilty to stealing car in Tasmania's Huon Valley
Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to one count of motor vehicle stealing. Mr Lehrmann is charged in relation the alleged theft of a Toyota Prado at Mountain River, in Tasmania's Huon Valley, in November last year. He is represented by high-profile Sydney-based criminal lawyer Zali Burrows. This morning, he and Ms Burrows appeared via phone link in the Hobart Magistrate's court, where Mr Lehrmann entered a plea of not guilty. His bail was continued, and he was ordered by Magistrate Reg Marron to appear again in court on September 19. Police prosecution requested Mr Lehrmann appear in person, but Magistrate Marron told the court he was not going to require that. Last year, Mr Lehrmann lost a defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson after Justice Michael Lee found, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019. He has always maintained his innocence and has appealed against the defamation decision.
News.com.au
01-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Bruce Lehrmann picks up new job as live-in nanny while awaiting defamation appeal, Qld rape trial
Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has taken up a new job as a live-in nanny while awaiting for an appeal of his defamation case and unrelated rape trial in Queensland. Mr Lehrmann, 29, is understood to be looking after the family's children in an unpaid capacity. The Daily Telegraph – who exclusively obtained details of the role, in addition to obtaining a photo of Mr Lehrmann at the movies – reports the former Liberal staffer has been taken in by a close family friend and is living with the family, who are outside NSW. In a statement Mr Lehrmann's lawyer, Zali Burrows, said: 'Bruce really relishes the role he has in the children's lives and the family really adore him.' 'It's been a safe, happy sanctuary, away from the mental and financial turmoil he is going through,' Ms Burrows' statement continued. It is understood Mr Lehrmann is continuing to study law, taking a particular specialisation in criminal law, while working in his new role. In 2021, he was identified as the political staffer accused of raping fellow colleague Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House, following a night out in Canberra in 2019. Mr Lehrmann has consistently maintained his innocence. In 2022, he stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct. Prosecutors subsequently dropped the charges and did not pursue a retrial due to concerns about Ms Higgins' mental health. In a subsequent high-stakes civil lawsuit, Mr Lehrmann claimed he had been defamed by an interview aired on The Project, where Ms Higgins first alleged she was raped. Last year, Justice Michael Lee last year dismissed the lawsuit against Network Ten and Ms Wilkinson after he found – on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities – that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins inside Parliament House. He found 'Mr Lehrmann was hellbent on having sex' and 'he did not care one way or another whether Ms Higgins understood or agreed to what was going on'. An appeal against Justice Lee's decision remains before the court. Mr Lehrmann is also due to stand trial in Toowoomba District Court on two counts of rape, which stem from an alleged incident in the Garden City in 2021. A date for trial has not been set and Mr Lehrmann has not yet entered a plea, but has previously indicated he will fight the charges. Ms Burrows is representing Mr Lehrman in both his civil claim and his criminal trial – after he dropped his original legal team back in March. During a call-over mention on May 22, Ms Burrows told the court there appeared to be a 'shroud of secrecy' over the investigation into her client. 'The Crown cannot confirm, at this stage, if there are any police notebook or diary entries in respect of this investigation, which is pretty concerning,' Ms Burrows said.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Shroud of secrecy' over investigation into Bruce Lehrmann rape accusations, lawyer tells court
Bruce Lehrmann's lawyer had told a court there appears to be a 'shroud of secrecy' over an investigation into allegations the former Liberal party staffer raped a woman after a night out. Lehrmann will face trial accused of raping a woman twice during the morning of 10 October 2021, after they met at a strip club the previous night in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane. The case was mentioned in Toowoomba district court on Thursday. His lawyer Zali Burrows complained to Judge Dennis Lynch that the prosecution was not disclosing information she sought from its brief of evidence. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'In respect to the status of the brief, there does appear to be a shroud of secrecy over the investigation of this matter,' she said. Burrows claimed the prosecution had not confirmed if there were any police notebooks or diary entries relating to the investigation, which she said was 'pretty concerning'. The defence also received 200 heavily redacted pages of the alleged victim's phone records out of 2200 identified in a report. 'It stands materially that it has cherrypicked the text exchanges, which is quite concerning,' Ms Burrows told Lynch. 'It's not a case of the crown determining what is materially relevant to the defence case. 'We are having issues with full-service redactions and what we view as non-disclosure of police notebooks and diaries.' The defence has filed an application for full access to the alleged victim's unredacted phone records and disclosure of all police notebooks, diaries, emails and text messages in respect to the investigation. Burrows expects that once this material is handed over, it will provide extra evidence for the defence's case. At an earlier hearing, Burrows applied for a complete consolidated brief of evidence after claiming the defence was missing nine witness statements and also important CCTV recordings. She confirmed on Thursday that this material was provided but there had been an issue with the video files. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The matter was adjourned for a hearing on 20 June. Lehrmann has not yet entered a pleas but his legal team in Toowoomba had indicated he would defend the charges. Lehrmann, 29, was formerly employed as a ministerial staffer in the Parliament House office of Liberal senator Linda Reynolds. The alleged victim previously told Toowoomba magistrates court she consumed cocaine with Lehrmann during a night out before consensual sex at a house in the rural city's east about 4am. The woman said she was woken about 10am by Lehrmann sexually assaulting her. Lehrmann's former defence barrister Andrew Hoare said at a prior committal hearing that the alleged victim was too intoxicated to remember giving consent and Lehrmann could have mistakenly believed he had consent for further sex acts. His former solicitor Rowan King previously told Lynch their legal team would apply for the trial to be heard without a jury, with a judge determining the verdict.
