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The Morning Edition

The Morning Edition

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

Categories: News & Politics

Listen to the last episode:

After five years, one aborted criminal trial and millions of dollars in legal fees, Justice Michael Lee handed down his judgment in the defamation case that Bruce Lehrmann brought against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.

Justice Lee found that Bruce Lehrmann had raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, and dismissed Lehrmann’s defamation claim.

The judgment, which was delayed at the 11th hour, was delivered in great, and at times colourful, detail.

The decision does not amount to a finding of criminal guilt. Lehrmann’s criminal trial was aborted in October 2022 due to juror misconduct and the charges were later dropped altogether owing to concerns about Higgins’ mental health.

Today, legal affairs reporter Michaela Whitbourn on the extraordinary findings from an at-times squalid and politically and socially charged case, and what it means for everyone involved.

And, a warning for listeners, this episode contains repeated descriptions of sexual assault.

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