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The trial for the person accused of raping Brittany Higgins is coming to an finish with the defence set to finish its closing argument.
Former Liberal Get together staffer Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not responsible to sexual activity with out consent.
He has undergone an almost three-week prison trial within the ACT Supreme Courtroom.
Closing arguments started on Tuesday after the prosecution accomplished its case with proof from greater than 20 witnesses.
Prosecutor Shane Drumgold urged the jury to ignore discussions of political actions and office cultures sparked by the case.
He stated the case was not concerning the tradition inside Parliament Home or the Me Too motion, however about what occurred on a sofa inside a minister’s workplace within the early hours of Saturday, March 23, 2019.
Mr Drumgold stated Ms Higgins had been a reputable and sincere witness whose model of occasions that night time had not wavered.
In the meantime, the prosecutor stated Lehrmann had given inconsistent accounts about his causes for being at parliament on the night time of the alleged assault to the safety guards, to his boss and to the police.
He advised Lehrmann’s intent was to go to Parliament Home in order that he could possibly be alone with the “drunk” and “weak” Ms Higgins.
Mr Drumgold additionally stated after the alleged rape Ms Higgins was caught in the course of “sturdy political forces”.
“We are saying she was proper to be scared, she was proper to be cautious and she or he was proper to maneuver slowly and thoroughly,” he stated.
However Lerhmann’s defence lawyer Steven Whybrow attacked Ms Higgins’ credibility, saying a better take a look at her proof made the prosecution’s case in opposition to his consumer “completely untenable”.
He advised Ms Higgins had motive to make up the allegation as a result of she feared she would lose her staffer job after being discovered asleep in a ministerial workplace in the course of the night time.
“Is there an inexpensive risk this grievance is being made as a result of her ‘dream job’ is, from her perspective, in jeopardy?” Mr Whybrow stated.
Mr Whybrow additionally advised Ms Higgins fabricated physician appointments on the time to “make it extra plausible” that she had been sexually assaulted.
He stated there was no file of Ms Higgins attending these appointments and the rationale she did not go was as a result of she did not have to.
“She says issues that superficially help her place after which they transform not dependable,” he stated
Mr Whybrow is predicted to proceed together with his closing argument on Wednesday.
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