A rogue juror who caused the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann to be aborted told the judge they were “deeply sorry” in a private hearing that was never disclosed to the public.
The account of the juror has emerged in documents published by the board of inquiry into the prosecution overnight.
The account has never been heard before because it was held in closed court without journalists present.
However, a transcript of the secret hearing has now been published by the board of inquiry investigating the prosecution of Mr Lehrmann and the conduct of the DPP, the police and the victims of crime commissioner.
Bruce Lehrmann. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage
ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum discharged the jury on October 27 after court officials found prohibited material – an academic paper – on rape in the jury room.
She then brought the juror into the courtroom to ask what happened.
The public was excluded from the hearing and the juror cannot be identified by law.
“I am deeply sorry for this,” the juror said.
“I’m willing to take responsibility for that, Your Honour, if you feel that that’s appropriate,” the juror said.
Chief Justice McCallum responded that she could not discuss her deliberations under the Juries Act.
“That’s a matter for you. But I do remind you that it’s an offence to disclose your deliberations. So I would prefer that you preserve your anonymity.”
ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum. Picture: Canberra Times
The juror said that no other jurors had looked at the material.
“I brought it in to show where the clarification came from and we agreed that it shouldn’t be – because it was research, that it shouldn’t be discussed. We have not discussed it,” the juror said.
“Can I just say I give you my sincere apologies. I wasn’t aware that doing this was in any sense a wrongdoing. I was just purely doing – finding out what it meant, certain words, and in case I mentioned it to the jury, I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t inventing anything.
“No one has read it, no one knows anything about it.”
Jury guessing game
The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold told the inquiry last week that he believed he had convinced 11 out of 12 jurors that Mr Lehrmann was guilty.
But Mr Lehrmann’s defence barrister Steven Whybrow SC, told the inquiry on Monday his reading of the juror was the opposite and that “there were 10 people on the jury in favour of an acquittal”.
DPP Shane Drumgold. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Dylan Robinson
Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer Steven Whybrow. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Bizarre police approach
Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold‘s barrister told the board of inquiry today that the police approach to the prosecution was “bizarre”.
“How bizarre the police approach was. It was a case overwhelmingly in need of charges.”
A barrister for the AFP, Kate Richardson SC then rose to complain about Mr Tedeschi using the word “bizarre”.
The chairman of the inquiry Walter Sofronoff reminded lawyers present he was not holding an inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann’s guilt or innocence.
DPP Shane Drumgold speaks during the inquiry. Picture: Supplied.
“I’m not interested in how the trial should have concluded. I am not interested in whether Mr Lehrmann is guilty or not guilty. I’m not interested in Miss Higgins.
“However, I have to deal with the question of whether the charge should have been brought.
“Can I ask if anybody is going to be submitting at the end that I should conclude that Mr Drumgold ought not to have submitted an indictment?.”
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No barristers present said they did plan to suggest that Mr Drumgold should not have presented an indictment.
“Nobody has suggested to him the contrary. And I don‘t read in the police evidence that any witness asserts to the contrary.”