A lead investigator in the aborted Bruce Lehrmann trial says he felt like the ACT’s top prosecutor was collecting evidence to mount a case against him.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller also told an inquiry into the handling of Brittany Higgins’ allegations that the pressure, both external and internal, led police to skip steps in their process.
The senior police officer will return to the witness stand for a second day of evidence where he is expected to be grilled by counsel for the DPP, Mark Tedeschi KC.
A main source of tension has been the disclosure of an evidence brief to defence, which included Ms Higgins counselling notes.
Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers did not access the notes but the inquiry heard Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, did.
Superintendent Moller will return to the stand on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman
An email tendered to the inquiry on Monday showed Mr Drumgold had written to police asking for a ‘please explain’ after the DPP was made aware of the disclosure.
Superintendent Moller said he had a feeling early on that “Mr Drumgold or the DPP was attempting to collect evidence against the police for use at a later time”.
He said the questions caused him and his team to second guess their actions.
The breakdown in the relationship between police and the DPP has been a major flashpoint in the inquiry.
The DPP first raised concerns about “political and police conduct” in a letter he sent the ACT’s chief of police in the days following the mistrial, which ultimately sparked the inquiry.
In the letter, he claimed he felt pressure not to prosecute.
Mr Drumgold repeated his concerns to the inquiry last week, saying he felt police “aligned themselves with an acquittal”, viewed the case as “dead” and were actively looking for evidence to “kill it”.
Mr Tedeschi will question the senior police officer on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Giving evidence on Monday, Superintendent Moller said police were under an exceptional amount of pressure from the media, the public and internally to charge Mr Lehrmann.
He said the desire to “get Mr Lehrmann before the court” led to usual steps, such as an internal “adjudication” of charges, being skipped despite his protests.
The senior officer told the inquiry he did not believe there was enough evidence for the former ministerial staffer to be charged but did so anyway following advice from the DPP.
The inquiry heard a number of police involved in the investigation did not return to their duties due to stress.
Previously, the probe had heard evidence the DPP was frustrated with the “undercharging” of sexual assault matters in the ACT.
Mr Tedeschi, said last week he wanted to “prove” that police had an “attitude towards sex cases generally”.
“(The Lehrmann case) was a classic example of it,” he said on Tuesday.
Mr Lehrmann had the charge against him dropped last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage
“Had it not been for all the publicity, had it not been that the alleged offence occurred in Parliament House, this matter would have been dealt with like the other … matters that have been, in effect, just ignored by the police.“
Mr Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexually assaulting his former colleague Ms Higgins before the trial was aborted due to jury misconduct.
Mr Lehrmann has continually denied the allegation and the DPP declined to pursue a second trial due to concerns over Ms Higgins’ mental health and dropped the charge.
The inquiry continues.