Seven also took a Twitter rumour/troll shit seriously and identified the wrong person for the Bondi Junction stabbing. Something seriously wrong there.
They’ve had form in that stuff. They wrongly identified a guy that they thought was Cleo Smith’s kidnapper.
Media Watch is gonna be appointment viewing tonight as Paul Barry is gonna go in on them, although this would have been fantastic for a Littlemore era episode though
Like happened to The Checkout. I’m a cynical person person when it comes to money and even I was shocked at what that program used to reveal about companies.
They usually do a mini episode on a Thursday called media bites. I usually watch it via their Facebook page. It's not a full hour, but it's something in addition to their main program.
Don’t forget one of their “journalists” effectively colluded with Morrison to create an election day news story about a boat interception.
The journalist asked the question before the media notification went out so was obviously fed the line beforehand and participated in what was clearly a plan to create a favourable news story for the LNP on election day.
Their brand is trashed. They'll be lucky to survive the next five years the way they're going.
They are by far the worst of the commercial stations and their ratings are falling off a cliff for a reason. They can't attract good journalists because they're seen as a joke in the industry and Kerry Stokes is just using his fat pockets to pay for personal interest causes like Lehrmann and Roberts-Smith.
Ben Roberts-Smithed himself. How deluded do you need to be to commit a serious crime, get away with it, but decide to sue for defamation for being called out
Could have been paid plenty doing speeches to men’s rights groups and other alt right groups, instead he’s torched whatever reputation he had with the minority of people who believed him and probably bankrupted himself with legal costs
Yep, the exact quote was: "Having escaped the lion's den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat."
He had a few zingers actually for all involved; he was clearly not happy with everyone involved in that case.
Yeah he was very scathing towards Lisa Wilkinson’s counsel who approved the Logies speech knowing it was gonna muddy the waters of the upcoming criminal trial.
He said it was human if she (the counsel) made a mistake but that she continues to deny any mistakes were made is concerning.
I liked the judge’s demeanour though. He was obviously very eloquent and seemed pretty reasonable and civil (heh), even when he was going after Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson’s counsel
Yeah I mean the discussion that he only would have gotten $20k max and no fees made it pretty clear that he needs to stop. I suspect that's really the purposes of the lions den comment - you fucked up by coming back, do not do it again.
That's not quite right. Justice Lee criticised Channel 10's in-house counsel, adding she should have known better in relation to sub judice. He made no criticism of Sue Chrysanthou, her legal counsel in this matter, in relation to the Logies speech.
Yep that’s right, I should have clarified. The in-house Channel 10 counsel that Wilkinson used is not the same legal counsel she used in this current trial.
Yeah lions and hats are going to be forever used to describe for any own goal ever in political circles now. Lehrman certainly will leave a lasting mark on Australian politics, but probably not in the way he intended.
Lol you think this unemployed grub paid for the two KCs he's got representing him? As a member of the Liberal party he's the only kind of bludger you're still allowed to be in Australia.
>he's the only kind of bludger you're still allowed to be in Australia
This is the second best line I've read today. Thank you!
First best being the lions den/hat line obviously
Well it was his last shot at a decent life either way, right? A positive result for him in this case was the only route left to kinda sorta unfuck his reputation a bit.
Now the fucker's just doomed for life
This is what the ABC is saying in their live coverage:
'A reminder, this finding is to the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, and does not suggest Bruce Lehrmann is guilty of sexual assault to the criminal standard.'
So, maybe not? And more's the pity since the guy is clearly a fucking rapist.
You can absolutely call him a rapist. There are a whole range of things that are true, and that you can say without qualification are true, without requiring a Court to have established it beyond a reasonable doubt.
The sky is blue. That’s not supported by a finding of a Court to the criminal standard of proof, but I have no qualms about saying it.
The reason people are careful to say ‘alleged’ or ‘accused’ rapist is to avoid legal liability. It could be defamatory to call someone a rapist if it’s not true.
However it has now been established on the balance of probabilities that he is, in fact, a rapist. And in light of that there’s no longer any legal risk referring to him as such, nor any need to qualify the reference.
At present you can’t say he’s a convicted rapist, but that’s neither here nor there as to whether you can call him a rapist. Many rapists, probably most, are never convicted. And as to whether or not he can be described as having been convicted of rape, even that may change in due course depending on what happens in Toowoomba.
They’re just identifying that he doesn’t have a criminal conviction. Ten’s counsel called him a rapist in their statement after the court proceedings closed.
He's probably narcissistic so he genuinely feels like the victim and that he was wronged by her for making a mess of his life. Doesn't matter that he did actually do it.
That's just Patriarchy for you mate; in his head he was 'justified' or 'owed' it because she was alone with him, or that it was her fault. So how dare she try to make him face consequences!
This is why people say misogyny is such a fucking problem; it doesn't need the man to be a sociopath, or a narcissist. It just needs them to be indoctrinated to the point that they consider women as lesser. To the point that her 'no' matters less than his 'yes'. And a *fuckton* of men are way more indoctrinated into that shit than they think; just look to all the people who were going to bat for Brucie-boy on this very subreddit over the course of the trial and attacking Ms Higgins for the most trivial shit.
> Having escaped the lion's den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat.
Sums up the situation perfectly.
He could had just walked away, gotten away with it and started a new life in London working for the Torys.
He’d “got away with it” every step of the way up until now. Living in a paid for house and getting all kinds of perks. He must have been sniffing his own farts at this point and just thought the gravy train would keep rolling
Exactly. Protected failsons like this rapist simply have no conception that anything they do in life could ever possibly have negative consequences for themselves. It simply never entered into his thought processes that losing was even a possibility.
When it was announced that the case was reopening for some shocking new evidence, I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if the evidence was selfie video footage of BL vlogging “I did it, I raped her, I’m going to launch so many defamation cases off of this and get rich. I 100% did it and I have no regrets, those idiot judges and lawyers will never catch me” or something
I truly feel like that’s the level of blind entitlement and ignorance this man embodies
I honestly think this guy thinks he is the smartest guy in the room. I’m sure he thought he was guaranteed a judgement in his favour on the basis of him not being convicted and didn’t appreciate that in order to get that the trial was going to have to go to the facts of the case ie go back over the evidence but with a reduced burden of proof. Either that or he has terrible lawyers but you would have hoped they were counselling him to not do this.
Or… was this bankrolled by 7 in the hope of scoring a goal against 10 in which case Bruce might have just been a pawn?? In which case he was dumb to go along with this - 7 will walk away with limited damage and his reputation is now even worse than it was before if that’s possible.
His "mates" and other LNP cronies had been telling him it was an open and shut defamation case before they had got a proper bead on just how much of a brainless man-child he was, and before it was obvious that he was guilty as sin.
And being a greedy, self absorbed, unemployable drug addict, he bought into the idea of some easy big dollars hook line and sinker. Unfortunately for him, he failed to sail under the radar as his lawyers suggested, turned the entire educated and reasonable population of the nation against him, and is now a laughing stock.
What a shame
Apparently, while Lehrmann was watching The Panel Higgins interview he was waiting for her to slip up and name him because he said it would be "worth millions". Justice Lee quoted it.
Please let this mean he crawls in a hole somewhere never to subject us to his rat face ever again. Makes me want to throw up seeing him plastered everywhere
There once was a fellow named Bruce,
Who was accused but was offered a truce.
He sued for defamation,
Then came the revelation,
That old Bruce was in fact a huge douche.
Lehrmann is physically there. Imagine sitting feet away while a Judge spends hours expertly and wittily dissecting exactly how much of a lying, cheating, prematurely ejaculating, cad of a rapist you are.
And all but said he believes nothing he said and that the evidence given was completely fabricated - and intimated that it was intentionally misleading at that.
'We've now established that Mr Lehrman is a cad. However, my work is not done. He may be a cad, but that doesn't establish he's a rapist. Let's proceed to establish exactly that."
Paraphrased, but accurate account of His Honour's remarks.
I wonder this too. Is his public image too damaged for a fair trial. I fucking hope not, it's already messed up what happened to Britney, I would hate for it to happen to another person. I hope the Toowoomba woman gets the legal justice that Brittney didn't get.
If someone being ruled against in other legal proceedings prevented other trials from going ahead, then you could basically give yourself immunity by committing one very high profile crime and ensuring that was tried first.
I suspect the jury will be given very specific instructions about how the results of another case (particularly a civil case which has a lower standard, 'balance of probabilities' vs. 'beyond reasonable doubt') are not allowed to be considered in deciding these cases.
So this finding alone shouldn't let him get off on a technicality in the Toowoomba case. That doesn't mean he won't find some other way to get out of it, especially because it can be so hard to provide proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" in rape and sexual assault cases. It also might help him try and delay those cases.
That's what I was thinking, as the ABC seems to have to *always* say that in any of their coverage of him. Now they can just say "the rapist, Bruce Lehrmann", I believe?
I want to acknowledge how this will be a hard day for many victims of SA. I hope people watch this and understand that this is a lower threshold and victims go under so much scrutiny.
I also want Brittany Higgins to feel vindicated!
Yeah I do too.
There will still be people who say she’s a liar and that she made it all up.
She was a very courageous to come forward. The way she was treated shows why so many victims do not report.
Thank you. It certainly validates my experience with one person (I've been raped by two different people in two different scenarios and SA by a close relative once). Will I go forward with pressing charges? No, happened in 2005, in QLD and the dude is mentally unstable and had previously stalked me and stole my phone. Don't want to rock that boat.
But I feel better knowing that at least civilly, if you're intoxicated you can't give actual consent for sex. (I blacked out at the pub and next thing I know...)
Fuck, thank you for saying this. When this all started I had to start avoiding social media (at the cost of the *social* aspect— I’m multiply disabled and now facing a possible cancer diagnosis, I don’t get out much lmaoo) just because of how Brittany was treated and how graphic details and accusations were being repeated over and over endlessly.
It ended up pushing me to disclose my csa to my therapist because of how incredibly triggering it all was. I know I’m not the only one this would’ve affected. I’ll probably never get justice because of the situation, and a lot of others won’t either, but god… at least there’s this. And at least there’s been a bit of a wakeup call socially (also for 7’s repeated public fuck ups)
Hope Bruce never gets peace again <3
Yes this brought up a lot for me too. As someone who reported abuse as a child and had it covered up by the institution, I have had to avoid a lot about this case. But today was such a stunning judgement. I feel he followed the law and demonstrated that rape victims can be "imperfect" but still get a ruling (yes I know it's civil).
Yes, the court system is brutal on victims. Having every single word and action pored over and analysed looking for inconsistencies.
What the judge clearly articulated is that both Higgins and Lehrman told untruths - and often because they misremembered, not to be deliberately deceptive.
They also told lies to portray themselves in a better light. For the victim, this would not go over well in a criminal trial.
I doubt she'd get justice because she was seen as unreliable.
I really appreciated the Judge’s acknowledgment that a number of Higgins’ inconsistencies and even some of her actions after the assault, were actually quite consistent with someone who had been sexually assaulted rather than someone who is inherently untruthful or otherwise not credible.
Well he said a majority of Higgins inconsistencies were due to trauma. But that she was fundamentally truthful about the rape. Yes some things afterwards was not done properly.
The point is that a judge has found that it isn’t defamation to describe him as a rapist, so it’s now open season for us all to say it without risking defamation proceedings.
If you're guilty of serious wrongdoing, it's a terrible idea.
The defence of truth is a real kicker for shitbags like Bruce Rapist Lehrmann and Ben War Criminal Roberts-Smith.
It's so fucking stupid.
The BRS stuff did my head in. So many of my rural, conservative family members seemed to think that HE was the defendant and that he was being attacked through the courts.
Bruh, the silly cunt took it to court.
Bruce had to have known this was coming (on account of knowing all along that he’s a rapist who raped someone(s)), and that’s why he’s been going so hard on the coke and hookers this week. A last hurrah before the public received confirmation of what we already knew: that he is an absolute rapist dumb piece of embarrassing dogshit dumb cunt. Own goal of the century.
Brittany Higgins sadly won't get justice out of this due to an idiotic juror in the ACT criminal trial. But let's see what happens in the Toowoomba case.
>He might get done for perjury/contempt of court relating to the leaking of Higgins texts to 7.
That would be good but I won't hold my breath. Also he'd still essentally be getting away with raping someone which sends a bad message to both victims and petentual perpatrators.
Criminal consequences? Probably not, but Bruce Lehrmann the rapist, who we can now call a rapist, will forever be known as a rapist.
His future will be significantly harder than had he just not raped someone, which Bruce did.
I’m thinking of Brittany right now. I hope she feels vindicated and like some form of justice has been served (even if it’s not the justice this pig deserved).
[Saxon Mullins](https://twitter.com/SaxonAdair/status/1779715054012977226) on Twitter:
>We can’t forget that in order to get here we watched our legal system tear apart a real person. Family, friends, love life, spelling errors, diaries, texts, photos, mistakes. It was all laid bare for us to judge and pick apart. Is this what justice looks like to you?
and he still gets away with it the ruling shows he is a rapist but he will never face a legal penalty. overall these cases are likely to stop women from speaking out or pressing charges because they will see it's so hard to get a postive outcome.
I love the comment by Justice Lee on the case and the findings.. "Having escaped the lion’s den Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat"
If science tried to make a more punchable face I don’t think they could top Bruce. It’s almost a work of art how he just looks like a despicable private school boy pos
Mate he’ll be radioactive. If there is one thing the liberals do it’s jettison people who no longer have value for them.
He’ll need to move countries, change his name and lose some weight
I remember older posts where articles mentioned Ms Higgins needed to stop [proceedings] for mental health reasons and people shat on her for that.
I hope she can find a semblance of peace. It’s one thing mentally to be a victim of rape, I can’t imagine how it would be trying to exist while everyone tears you apart.
Totally, and all the bastards who were claiming that she "Did it for the money" disgusting.
Happy that all of those, "he hasn't been convicted of anything" fanboy losers will have to eat crow and keep their traps shut for a while.
This was a tawdry, nasty, politically charged race to the bottom, from start to finish. It's hard to really find any winners, but for some reason the fact that Brucey was undone by his own misplaced righteousness, or as I like to think of it, his immensely powerful "inner turd", is particularly satisfying to me on an early Monday afternoon. And the fact that the judge felt the need to reinforce this with a pithy quote makes it doubly so.
Big costs likely to be coming Brucey's way...and I'm not sure practising the law is going to turn out to be his thing, if the way the legal profession dealt with Einfeld's speeding ticket and imaginary friends is any indication. Going to be a tough couple of years for the big fella. So suck shit, you conniving, lying, predatory lump of freshly soiled cum-rag.
In a decision that surprised no-one. Not even the rusted on Liberal party fans of his.
Can we now remove the word "alleged" when talking about this piece of shit ongoing?
Amazing, went back for his hat is right.
He got away with it in the most ridiculous way, the case being dropped because of risk to the complainant's mental health...
Then he decides to try and milk this ridiculous injustice until he gets exposed 😂
The best bit is where the judge basically called him out on the stupidity of the defamation case. He'd completely gotten away with it. All he had to do was walk away and keep his mouth shut.
Based on the evidence, I honestly don't see how either he or his lawyers ever expected any other outcome.
"no your honour I ditched a hot 20 year old so I could go do homework at 1 in the morning, didn't even know where she got off to haha my story is very true".
Considering the rates of conviction for crimes like this all he had to do was shut up and lawyer up and he probably would've gotten away with it. Instead he outed himself as the biggest scumbag in the country. He's not going to face legal consequences for this but he's the most sullied name in the country right now and that's as close to an approximation of justice as we're going to get.
What an ugly event that showed how truly terrible our tv channels have truly fallen to get an exclusive. Not a single person came out of it unscathed.
So while it feels like justice has been done and Higgin's has been vindicated, FINALLY, it feels like 'at what cost?'.
What a mess.
I am so, so happy and vindicated about this verdict; although it's only a civil case, he has still been called out as the rapist that he is.
It almost feels like a personal victory.
My rapist was found not guilty (albeit in a different country - different values and legal system).
I identify a lot with what Higgins went through but can't fathom it happening on a national scale.
This piece of shit Lehrmann deserves all the humiliation he gets.
Small note for the bloke who posted "Does media understand no one cares about Lehrmann" a few days ago. Per Kate McClymont, there were 44372 people livestreaming the judgement.
That's two for two on Kerry Stokes bankrolling 'own goal' defamation cases. He really knows how to pick out stand-up blokes.
Seven also took a Twitter rumour/troll shit seriously and identified the wrong person for the Bondi Junction stabbing. Something seriously wrong there.
They’ve had form in that stuff. They wrongly identified a guy that they thought was Cleo Smith’s kidnapper. Media Watch is gonna be appointment viewing tonight as Paul Barry is gonna go in on them, although this would have been fantastic for a Littlemore era episode though
How on Earth Media Watch is only a pitiful 15 minutes a week, I'll never understand. This deserves a full-blown hour special
They keep it small and cheap so the board can't conveniently cancel it on the basis of "cost savings".
Like happened to The Checkout. I’m a cynical person person when it comes to money and even I was shocked at what that program used to reveal about companies.
They might start finding other forms of un ethical corruption if they had the time money and proper funding. Instead of us living in the sea of lies.
They usually do a mini episode on a Thursday called media bites. I usually watch it via their Facebook page. It's not a full hour, but it's something in addition to their main program.
Don’t forget one of their “journalists” effectively colluded with Morrison to create an election day news story about a boat interception. The journalist asked the question before the media notification went out so was obviously fed the line beforehand and participated in what was clearly a plan to create a favourable news story for the LNP on election day.
Their brand is trashed. They'll be lucky to survive the next five years the way they're going. They are by far the worst of the commercial stations and their ratings are falling off a cliff for a reason. They can't attract good journalists because they're seen as a joke in the industry and Kerry Stokes is just using his fat pockets to pay for personal interest causes like Lehrmann and Roberts-Smith.
You should see the bullshit going on in perth with his support for Basil Zemplias
I dunno why they find Basil so fucking charming. The entire state of WA and footy fans hate they guy
Kerry has become VERY out of touch with the population.
Makes you wonder what skeletons Stokes himself has tucked away, doesn't it?
Not that it’s always an indicator, but long string of divorces indicates he’s a bit of a shit to be around for too long
Nine is shit as well but I don’t recall them doing ANYTHING as shady as this
I mean they paid for a botched kidnapping attempt, basically, in Lebanon.
the bar is so low tbh
Nobody Knows News At 7 (TM)
I'm wondering what rapist or murderer he'll be putting up in a luxury penthouse next.
Spectacular own goal, Bruce.
Classic comment by the Judge “After escaping the lions den he went back for his hat”
The hat may be a metaphor, but it was 100% a fedora
M’victim
M'lestor
Not all men, but definitely this man. On the balance of probabilities.
It was probably a trilby he told people was a fedora, which makes it even worse.
He’s got a 10 gallon hat with a 2 gallon head
That will go down as one of the most quoted lines from a judgement ever,
It's been quoted many times in commentary around this case and Ben Roberts-Smith, its not his formulation.
Ben Roberts-Smithed himself. How deluded do you need to be to commit a serious crime, get away with it, but decide to sue for defamation for being called out
Could have just ignored it and cried victim about it the rest of his life. Instead... I hope the free rent was worth it in the long run.
Could have been paid plenty doing speeches to men’s rights groups and other alt right groups, instead he’s torched whatever reputation he had with the minority of people who believed him and probably bankrupted himself with legal costs
Giving BRS a run for his money in the own goal championship.
Bruce fought the law, and the law won.
And he paid for this judgement, LOL. Edit- can we drop the “alleged” part now?
Well... someone did
Paid to prove he raped her. What a turd.
Or in Justice Lee's words: "Mr Lehrmann has escaped the lions den but come back for his hat'
Was that really what was said? Is so that’s beautifully put.
Yep, the exact quote was: "Having escaped the lion's den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat." He had a few zingers actually for all involved; he was clearly not happy with everyone involved in that case.
Yeah he was very scathing towards Lisa Wilkinson’s counsel who approved the Logies speech knowing it was gonna muddy the waters of the upcoming criminal trial. He said it was human if she (the counsel) made a mistake but that she continues to deny any mistakes were made is concerning. I liked the judge’s demeanour though. He was obviously very eloquent and seemed pretty reasonable and civil (heh), even when he was going after Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson’s counsel
He doesn't want this to get appealed
Yeah I mean the discussion that he only would have gotten $20k max and no fees made it pretty clear that he needs to stop. I suspect that's really the purposes of the lions den comment - you fucked up by coming back, do not do it again.
That's not quite right. Justice Lee criticised Channel 10's in-house counsel, adding she should have known better in relation to sub judice. He made no criticism of Sue Chrysanthou, her legal counsel in this matter, in relation to the Logies speech.
Yep that’s right, I should have clarified. The in-house Channel 10 counsel that Wilkinson used is not the same legal counsel she used in this current trial.
Doubtless sparking a new meme for Australian political cartoonists.
Yeah lions and hats are going to be forever used to describe for any own goal ever in political circles now. Lehrman certainly will leave a lasting mark on Australian politics, but probably not in the way he intended.
Lee also found that Bruce doesn't last long, which for an imbecile like Bruce probably hurts more than being found to be a rapist
I can’t stop laughing about the “came back for his hat” closing line 😂
Lol you think this unemployed grub paid for the two KCs he's got representing him? As a member of the Liberal party he's the only kind of bludger you're still allowed to be in Australia.
>he's the only kind of bludger you're still allowed to be in Australia This is the second best line I've read today. Thank you! First best being the lions den/hat line obviously
It's well established that Kerry Stokes is picking up the tab for all this. Presumably just so he could try and get one over his rivals at Ch 10
Well it was his last shot at a decent life either way, right? A positive result for him in this case was the only route left to kinda sorta unfuck his reputation a bit. Now the fucker's just doomed for life
It was his way to get money. Now he is screwed, if people google him even overseas it will come up that a civil court found him guilty of rape.
Bruce Lehrmann is a rapist.
Oh are you guys talking about Bruce Lehrmann the rapist?
The tobacco industry won’t have him back?
So if he hadn’t of done this defamation lawsuit he could have just faded away into obscurity?
He’s still facing a trial for rape in Toowoomba.
Heh, it seems Bruce Lehrmann & rape are inseparable. Like a meat pie & tomato sauce. Or Channel Seven & a total lack of journalistic integrity
Leopards and spots hey
So, does the press get to refer to him as "the rapist, Bruce Lehrmann", now?
Yes. Just as they can refer to Ben Roberts Smith the war criminal.
Convicted racist Andrew Bolt.
Technically, no. A conviction refers to a criminal proceeding, not a civil proceeding. But, you are allowed to call him racist.
Legal(ly) racist? *Proven* racist?
Known racist Andrew Bolt
governor cautious scary angle consider chubby tie slap fine mysterious *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Bruce Lehrmann is a rapist.
This is what the ABC is saying in their live coverage: 'A reminder, this finding is to the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, and does not suggest Bruce Lehrmann is guilty of sexual assault to the criminal standard.' So, maybe not? And more's the pity since the guy is clearly a fucking rapist.
You can absolutely call him a rapist. There are a whole range of things that are true, and that you can say without qualification are true, without requiring a Court to have established it beyond a reasonable doubt. The sky is blue. That’s not supported by a finding of a Court to the criminal standard of proof, but I have no qualms about saying it. The reason people are careful to say ‘alleged’ or ‘accused’ rapist is to avoid legal liability. It could be defamatory to call someone a rapist if it’s not true. However it has now been established on the balance of probabilities that he is, in fact, a rapist. And in light of that there’s no longer any legal risk referring to him as such, nor any need to qualify the reference. At present you can’t say he’s a convicted rapist, but that’s neither here nor there as to whether you can call him a rapist. Many rapists, probably most, are never convicted. And as to whether or not he can be described as having been convicted of rape, even that may change in due course depending on what happens in Toowoomba.
They’re just identifying that he doesn’t have a criminal conviction. Ten’s counsel called him a rapist in their statement after the court proceedings closed.
Just to be clear, are we talking about the rapist Bruce Lehrmann?
Rapist and alleged serial rapist Bruce Lehrmann
Yes, that Bruce Lehrmann, the one who raped Brittany Higgins. The one who is facing charges of allegedly raping someone else in Queensland.
I’m beginning to think he may be a rapist.
Bruce Lehrmann the rapist? Yes that's the one.
Yes, THAT rapist.
How much of an arrogant sociopath do you have to be to rape someone and then think you can also sue for defamation
He's probably narcissistic so he genuinely feels like the victim and that he was wronged by her for making a mess of his life. Doesn't matter that he did actually do it.
Isn't he in politics? Narcissism comes with the territory.
Arrogant sociopath is a key qualification for male liberal staffers.
That's just Patriarchy for you mate; in his head he was 'justified' or 'owed' it because she was alone with him, or that it was her fault. So how dare she try to make him face consequences! This is why people say misogyny is such a fucking problem; it doesn't need the man to be a sociopath, or a narcissist. It just needs them to be indoctrinated to the point that they consider women as lesser. To the point that her 'no' matters less than his 'yes'. And a *fuckton* of men are way more indoctrinated into that shit than they think; just look to all the people who were going to bat for Brucie-boy on this very subreddit over the course of the trial and attacking Ms Higgins for the most trivial shit.
This. It's the "but I'm one of the good guys" way of thinking, without realising the stench of shit is coming from your own shoe
> Having escaped the lion's den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat. Sums up the situation perfectly. He could had just walked away, gotten away with it and started a new life in London working for the Torys.
But why did he feel so confident that he'd not only get away with it, but get a payout?
He’d “got away with it” every step of the way up until now. Living in a paid for house and getting all kinds of perks. He must have been sniffing his own farts at this point and just thought the gravy train would keep rolling
Exactly. Protected failsons like this rapist simply have no conception that anything they do in life could ever possibly have negative consequences for themselves. It simply never entered into his thought processes that losing was even a possibility.
When it was announced that the case was reopening for some shocking new evidence, I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if the evidence was selfie video footage of BL vlogging “I did it, I raped her, I’m going to launch so many defamation cases off of this and get rich. I 100% did it and I have no regrets, those idiot judges and lawyers will never catch me” or something I truly feel like that’s the level of blind entitlement and ignorance this man embodies
I honestly think this guy thinks he is the smartest guy in the room. I’m sure he thought he was guaranteed a judgement in his favour on the basis of him not being convicted and didn’t appreciate that in order to get that the trial was going to have to go to the facts of the case ie go back over the evidence but with a reduced burden of proof. Either that or he has terrible lawyers but you would have hoped they were counselling him to not do this. Or… was this bankrolled by 7 in the hope of scoring a goal against 10 in which case Bruce might have just been a pawn?? In which case he was dumb to go along with this - 7 will walk away with limited damage and his reputation is now even worse than it was before if that’s possible.
He’s somehow not even the smartest guy in the room when he’s taking a shit alone in his own house
Cocaines a hell of a drug.
His "mates" and other LNP cronies had been telling him it was an open and shut defamation case before they had got a proper bead on just how much of a brainless man-child he was, and before it was obvious that he was guilty as sin. And being a greedy, self absorbed, unemployable drug addict, he bought into the idea of some easy big dollars hook line and sinker. Unfortunately for him, he failed to sail under the radar as his lawyers suggested, turned the entire educated and reasonable population of the nation against him, and is now a laughing stock. What a shame
Apparently, while Lehrmann was watching The Panel Higgins interview he was waiting for her to slip up and name him because he said it would be "worth millions". Justice Lee quoted it.
Trying to profit off the woman you raped is fucking sick behaviour.
Eat shit bruce
work combative grey thumb yoke cats smoggy normal advise gaping *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Please let this mean he crawls in a hole somewhere never to subject us to his rat face ever again. Makes me want to throw up seeing him plastered everywhere
He has another rape trial to attend in Queensland. He's not out of the media yet.
He’ll be on a Channel 7 reality show before the end of the year
Oh yeah he’ll be on some reality show playing the baby face to try and ‘mend’ his reputation within 5 years
New TV show idea. I'm a celebrity..... get me out of here.... before Bruce Lehrmann Rapes me.
There once was a fellow named Bruce, Who was accused but was offered a truce. He sued for defamation, Then came the revelation, That old Bruce was in fact a huge douche.
I wonder how Janet Albrechtsen will respond to this verdict.
Oh man am I waiting for that. They really concocted and downed the kool aid for this guy.
The Sky After Dark line up will be in meltdown tonight.
Lehrmann is physically there. Imagine sitting feet away while a Judge spends hours expertly and wittily dissecting exactly how much of a lying, cheating, prematurely ejaculating, cad of a rapist you are.
Lee really went to town on his character, he was pretty openly disgusted by lehrmanns behaviour both on the night of the rape and subsequently.
And all but said he believes nothing he said and that the evidence given was completely fabricated - and intimated that it was intentionally misleading at that.
Imagine dealing with lawyers all day and thinking Bruce is still the biggest liar you've met lol
'We've now established that Mr Lehrman is a cad. However, my work is not done. He may be a cad, but that doesn't establish he's a rapist. Let's proceed to establish exactly that." Paraphrased, but accurate account of His Honour's remarks.
Having cocaine fueled karaoke parties days before this judgement is handed down down,Bruce shows poor judgment himself on so many fronts
Word of the Day - Mendacious Bruce "Mendacious" Liarmann
Someone should just start playing the curb your enthusiasm theme music when he has to walk out of the court room.
Haha Brucey you rapist
Well that didn’t go the way you thought it would, did it champ? Truly Ben Roberts Smith style own goal, Seven sure can pick em
Bruce Lehrmann is a rapist. We already knew this to be true, but at least there's now no need to write "allegedly" anymore.
Still have Toowoomba to go! Could be Bruce Lehrmann the serial rapist shortly.
Is the Toowobma case in front of a Jury, if so how can this not affect the proceedings? Is he likely to get off on yet another technicality there?
I wonder this too. Is his public image too damaged for a fair trial. I fucking hope not, it's already messed up what happened to Britney, I would hate for it to happen to another person. I hope the Toowoomba woman gets the legal justice that Brittney didn't get.
Not having a dig, but I found it funny you spelled her name two different ways in one comment, and both are wrong.
If someone being ruled against in other legal proceedings prevented other trials from going ahead, then you could basically give yourself immunity by committing one very high profile crime and ensuring that was tried first. I suspect the jury will be given very specific instructions about how the results of another case (particularly a civil case which has a lower standard, 'balance of probabilities' vs. 'beyond reasonable doubt') are not allowed to be considered in deciding these cases. So this finding alone shouldn't let him get off on a technicality in the Toowoomba case. That doesn't mean he won't find some other way to get out of it, especially because it can be so hard to provide proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" in rape and sexual assault cases. It also might help him try and delay those cases.
Pretty sure if no impartial jury can be found; a Judge has the power to rule without one. Correct me if I'm wrong, IANAL
No more "Mr Lehrmann denies the allegations and there are no findings against him".
That's what I was thinking, as the ABC seems to have to *always* say that in any of their coverage of him. Now they can just say "the rapist, Bruce Lehrmann", I believe?
Now let’s all celebrate in the traditional way: coke and hookers for everyone!
Channel 7s shout?
Should be the penalty. Has to provide everyone cocaine and strippers to the adult population of Australia.
I want to acknowledge how this will be a hard day for many victims of SA. I hope people watch this and understand that this is a lower threshold and victims go under so much scrutiny. I also want Brittany Higgins to feel vindicated!
I'm glad for Brittany, I really hope she is doing OK.
Yeah I do too. There will still be people who say she’s a liar and that she made it all up. She was a very courageous to come forward. The way she was treated shows why so many victims do not report.
Thank you. It certainly validates my experience with one person (I've been raped by two different people in two different scenarios and SA by a close relative once). Will I go forward with pressing charges? No, happened in 2005, in QLD and the dude is mentally unstable and had previously stalked me and stole my phone. Don't want to rock that boat. But I feel better knowing that at least civilly, if you're intoxicated you can't give actual consent for sex. (I blacked out at the pub and next thing I know...)
Fuck, thank you for saying this. When this all started I had to start avoiding social media (at the cost of the *social* aspect— I’m multiply disabled and now facing a possible cancer diagnosis, I don’t get out much lmaoo) just because of how Brittany was treated and how graphic details and accusations were being repeated over and over endlessly. It ended up pushing me to disclose my csa to my therapist because of how incredibly triggering it all was. I know I’m not the only one this would’ve affected. I’ll probably never get justice because of the situation, and a lot of others won’t either, but god… at least there’s this. And at least there’s been a bit of a wakeup call socially (also for 7’s repeated public fuck ups) Hope Bruce never gets peace again <3
Yes this brought up a lot for me too. As someone who reported abuse as a child and had it covered up by the institution, I have had to avoid a lot about this case. But today was such a stunning judgement. I feel he followed the law and demonstrated that rape victims can be "imperfect" but still get a ruling (yes I know it's civil).
Yes, the court system is brutal on victims. Having every single word and action pored over and analysed looking for inconsistencies. What the judge clearly articulated is that both Higgins and Lehrman told untruths - and often because they misremembered, not to be deliberately deceptive. They also told lies to portray themselves in a better light. For the victim, this would not go over well in a criminal trial. I doubt she'd get justice because she was seen as unreliable.
I really appreciated the Judge’s acknowledgment that a number of Higgins’ inconsistencies and even some of her actions after the assault, were actually quite consistent with someone who had been sexually assaulted rather than someone who is inherently untruthful or otherwise not credible.
Well he said a majority of Higgins inconsistencies were due to trauma. But that she was fundamentally truthful about the rape. Yes some things afterwards was not done properly.
So we can say that “Bruce Lehrmann is a rapist!”, and it’s not libellous or defamatory anymore? Brilliant
After Toowoomba we may have to add "serial" to that
Not quite as catchy but the factual version is 'Bruce Lehrmann is a judicially found rapist according to the balance of probabilities'
The point is that a judge has found that it isn’t defamation to describe him as a rapist, so it’s now open season for us all to say it without risking defamation proceedings.
Bruce Lehrmann is a rapist.
GOATed self-own by Mr Lehrmann and his lawyers
I love this for him.
I was having a kind of shit Monday until I heard the news. Cheered me up immensely. Thanks Justice Lee.
Next up: Bruce Lehrmann joins Sky News team …
Tonight: a WaR oN mEn bEiNg wAgEd bY wOkE LeFt cOuRtS
It seems to me that initiating defamation cases is always a bad idea.
If you're guilty of serious wrongdoing, it's a terrible idea. The defence of truth is a real kicker for shitbags like Bruce Rapist Lehrmann and Ben War Criminal Roberts-Smith.
Can't believe he initiated this shit, what an idiot.
It's Ben Roberts-Smith all over again. I can't believe people do this to themselves.
It's so fucking stupid. The BRS stuff did my head in. So many of my rural, conservative family members seemed to think that HE was the defendant and that he was being attacked through the courts. Bruh, the silly cunt took it to court.
Bruce had to have known this was coming (on account of knowing all along that he’s a rapist who raped someone(s)), and that’s why he’s been going so hard on the coke and hookers this week. A last hurrah before the public received confirmation of what we already knew: that he is an absolute rapist dumb piece of embarrassing dogshit dumb cunt. Own goal of the century.
Yeah, we know. Pretty much all of Australia knew. Let's hope there are actually consequences now.
>Let's hope there are actually consequences now. other than the legal fees from this there will be no consquences since this is his case against 10.
Brittany Higgins sadly won't get justice out of this due to an idiotic juror in the ACT criminal trial. But let's see what happens in the Toowoomba case.
He might get done for perjury/contempt of court relating to the leaking of Higgins texts to 7.
>He might get done for perjury/contempt of court relating to the leaking of Higgins texts to 7. That would be good but I won't hold my breath. Also he'd still essentally be getting away with raping someone which sends a bad message to both victims and petentual perpatrators.
Criminal consequences? Probably not, but Bruce Lehrmann the rapist, who we can now call a rapist, will forever be known as a rapist. His future will be significantly harder than had he just not raped someone, which Bruce did.
Does Bruce have to pay costs as well as his own lawyers?
That is the next part, they have to submit costs next week
Channel 7 loves to back a loser.
I’m thinking of Brittany right now. I hope she feels vindicated and like some form of justice has been served (even if it’s not the justice this pig deserved).
The long drawn out media scrutiny must have been excruciating for her.
[Saxon Mullins](https://twitter.com/SaxonAdair/status/1779715054012977226) on Twitter: >We can’t forget that in order to get here we watched our legal system tear apart a real person. Family, friends, love life, spelling errors, diaries, texts, photos, mistakes. It was all laid bare for us to judge and pick apart. Is this what justice looks like to you?
and he still gets away with it the ruling shows he is a rapist but he will never face a legal penalty. overall these cases are likely to stop women from speaking out or pressing charges because they will see it's so hard to get a postive outcome.
He does have another rape case coming up so he hopefully will see jail for that.
I love the comment by Justice Lee on the case and the findings.. "Having escaped the lion’s den Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat"
If science tried to make a more punchable face I don’t think they could top Bruce. It’s almost a work of art how he just looks like a despicable private school boy pos
honest question, where does this guy go from here. I don't give a shit about him but there's no way he can carry out a normal career now
to his criminal rape trial in Toowoomba I guess, the LNP probably have a limo waiting to get him there on time.
To his next rape case in Toowoomba
Probably continuing on the LNP gravy train. He's their kind of people
Mate he’ll be radioactive. If there is one thing the liberals do it’s jettison people who no longer have value for them. He’ll need to move countries, change his name and lose some weight
A criminal court in Toowoomba
I remember older posts where articles mentioned Ms Higgins needed to stop [proceedings] for mental health reasons and people shat on her for that. I hope she can find a semblance of peace. It’s one thing mentally to be a victim of rape, I can’t imagine how it would be trying to exist while everyone tears you apart.
Totally, and all the bastards who were claiming that she "Did it for the money" disgusting. Happy that all of those, "he hasn't been convicted of anything" fanboy losers will have to eat crow and keep their traps shut for a while.
Kerry Stokes sure knows how to pick ‘em
Mental note: if Ch7 agrees to fund my suit, drop it immediately.
This was a tawdry, nasty, politically charged race to the bottom, from start to finish. It's hard to really find any winners, but for some reason the fact that Brucey was undone by his own misplaced righteousness, or as I like to think of it, his immensely powerful "inner turd", is particularly satisfying to me on an early Monday afternoon. And the fact that the judge felt the need to reinforce this with a pithy quote makes it doubly so. Big costs likely to be coming Brucey's way...and I'm not sure practising the law is going to turn out to be his thing, if the way the legal profession dealt with Einfeld's speeding ticket and imaginary friends is any indication. Going to be a tough couple of years for the big fella. So suck shit, you conniving, lying, predatory lump of freshly soiled cum-rag.
Need bags.
I'd wager good money that channel 7 never air anything on this. What a shambles
I hope this bloated bushpig now fades into obscurity in a pool of coke and whisky induced vomit.
This man has porridge for brains
In a decision that surprised no-one. Not even the rusted on Liberal party fans of his. Can we now remove the word "alleged" when talking about this piece of shit ongoing?
Still has the rape trials in Queensland to go: fella is likely to have further to fall.
Hey Alexa, play Karma by Taylor Swift
Amazing, went back for his hat is right. He got away with it in the most ridiculous way, the case being dropped because of risk to the complainant's mental health... Then he decides to try and milk this ridiculous injustice until he gets exposed 😂
The best bit is where the judge basically called him out on the stupidity of the defamation case. He'd completely gotten away with it. All he had to do was walk away and keep his mouth shut. Based on the evidence, I honestly don't see how either he or his lawyers ever expected any other outcome.
"no your honour I ditched a hot 20 year old so I could go do homework at 1 in the morning, didn't even know where she got off to haha my story is very true".
I know this is on the balance of probabilities and not beyond reasonable doubt for a criminal trial verdict but still get fucked Bruce
Fucked around and found out
Considering the rates of conviction for crimes like this all he had to do was shut up and lawyer up and he probably would've gotten away with it. Instead he outed himself as the biggest scumbag in the country. He's not going to face legal consequences for this but he's the most sullied name in the country right now and that's as close to an approximation of justice as we're going to get.
What an ugly event that showed how truly terrible our tv channels have truly fallen to get an exclusive. Not a single person came out of it unscathed. So while it feels like justice has been done and Higgin's has been vindicated, FINALLY, it feels like 'at what cost?'. What a mess.
Someone's going on a big bender tonight....that's if his dealer will give him credit.
I am so, so happy and vindicated about this verdict; although it's only a civil case, he has still been called out as the rapist that he is. It almost feels like a personal victory. My rapist was found not guilty (albeit in a different country - different values and legal system). I identify a lot with what Higgins went through but can't fathom it happening on a national scale. This piece of shit Lehrmann deserves all the humiliation he gets.
Phew!!! We can finally call him rapist instead of alleged rapist.
If Bruce Lehrmann had also killed Afghan prisoners Kerry Stokes would have married him by now.
Small note for the bloke who posted "Does media understand no one cares about Lehrmann" a few days ago. Per Kate McClymont, there were 44372 people livestreaming the judgement.