Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins, as the high-profile trial began at the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Lehrmann, a formal Liberal party staffer, has denied the allegations and has said he did not have sex with his then colleague Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.
Higgins took to the witness stand on Tuesday through video link from a different courtroom in the same building.
The court heard a recording of Higgins’ police interview from February 2021, where she recounted the alleged rape. In the recording. She said she had gone to parliament house with Lehrmann after a night of heavy drink and fell asleep on the couch in the office of former defence minister, Linda Reynolds. She said she had woken up to him having sex with her. She said cried through the entire process and told him to stop at least half a dozen times.
Both Higgins and Lehrmann worked in former defence minister Linda Reynolds’ office at the time.
A jury of 10 women and six men were selected for the trial. Only 12 will be tasked with reaching a verdict, with four reserves.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the jurors they must ignore all the media coverage of the trial, as attention on the case is expected to intensify over the coming weeks.
Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow, claimed that 27-year-old Lehrmann was a victim of “trial by media” and the Australian public had been “sold a pup”.
It is likely the prosecution will call more than 50 witnesses throughout the trial, including high-profile names like the former defence minister, Linda Reynolds, former attorney-general, Michaelia Cash, journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden, and Scott Morrison’s former chief of staff John Kunkel.
The trial continues on Wednesday, with Higgins expected to face her first questions over the allegations.