The ACT Supreme Court has finished hearing the former chief prosecutor’s challenge to the findings of an inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann. Lawyers for Shane Drumgold have rebuffed claims there was nothing untoward about the inquiry chair’s dealings with a journalist at The Australian newspaper.
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TVTranscript
00:00 It was their last chance. Shane Drumgold's lawyers left the ACT Supreme Court after shedding
00:07 more light on what they say is potential bias against their client by the man who led the
00:14 inquiry into his most prominent prosecution. Bruce Lehrman's trial for the alleged rape
00:20 of Brittany Higgins at Parliament House was abandoned due to juror misconduct, leaving
00:25 no findings against him. From the day after Mr Drumgold dropped the case, he became the
00:30 subject of repeated criticism from the Australians' Janet Albretson. She and Walter Sofronoff
00:36 exchanged hundreds of communications over a five-month period, and today the court heard
00:41 they became increasingly informal. "Got a minute?" Mr Sofronoff asks one day. The pair
00:48 also traded emojis, including thumbs up and prayer hands. When Mr Sofronoff amended his
00:54 terms of reference, he personally sent the change to Ms Albretson half an hour before
00:59 they went to the rest of the media list. Mr Drumgold's barrister Dan O'Gorman argued
01:05 it was a stark departure from his previous dealings with media during inquiries in Queensland
01:11 into the Grantham floods and forensic DNA testing. Nowhere is there any evidence to
01:16 suggest that private communications of the type engaged in by Mr Sofronoff and Ms Albretson
01:22 were appropriate. There's a lot at stake in the outcome of this case. In launching
01:28 it, Shane Drumgold sought to undo some of the damage to his reputation. Walter Sofronoff
01:33 has also faced questions over his professionalism, and the six police officers who joined the
01:39 case as defendants will hope the inquiry's favourable findings about their conduct remain
01:45 in place. Justice Stephen Kaye has reserved his decision.
01:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]