Jurors in the Bruce Lehrmann trial have been urged to continue attempting to reach a verdict after signalling to the court they were “unable” to agree unanimously.
The jury started deliberating last Wednesday on an allegation that Lehrmann raped colleague and fellow political staffer Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in the early hours of 23 March 2019.
The ACT supreme court received a note on Tuesday afternoon indicating the jury was “unable to reach a unanimous verdict”.
Chief justice Lucy McCallum directed the jury to make “a further attempt to reach a verdict”.
“Judges are usually reluctant to discharge a jury because experience shows juries can in fact agree if given more time to consider the issues and evidence,” McCallum said.
McCallum asked the jury to go back to the jury room and try to again reach a unanimous verdict. She said their reasons for reaching the same verdict can differ and that it only matters that they all agree unanimously.
“I ask you to retire again to see whether you can reach a verdict in this trial,” she said.
Soon after they returned to the jury room, the jurors sent another note to the court indicating that they wanted to go home. McCallum accepted their request.
“Hit the gym, walk the dog, do whatever need you need to do … get some respite from this arduous task,” the judge said.
Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent. He is accused of raping Higgins on a couch opposite the desk of then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds after a night of drinking at Canberra bars.
Before they retired, the prosecution told the jury Higgins was an honest and genuine complainant whose story was consistent and unfaltering.
The prosecutor, Shane Drumgold SC, said Lehrmann had given shifting versions for why he and Higgins went back to parliament, most of which were untrue.
The defence, led by Steven Whybrow, pointed to inconsistencies in Higgins’ evidence and said there was no other evidence, including DNA evidence, to independently corroborate her allegation.
Whybrow alleged Higgins either did not know what happened that night or had fabricated an allegation after being found naked in parliament by security, prompting her to fear for her job.
