Senator
has received $90,000 and an apology from the ACT government after the territory’s former top prosecutor accused her of disturbing conduct during
In a letter of complaint addressed to the Australian Federal Police,
alleged Reynolds “engaged in direct coaching of the defence cross-examination of the complainant”.
Reynolds launched a defamation case against him and the ACT government in December after the document was published by media, claiming it caused significant loss and damage.
All parties have now reached a compromised settlement and Reynolds has been paid $70,000 in damages and $20,000 in legal fees.
The ACT government also issued a formal apology and retracted the allegations contained in Drumgold’s letter while directing current DPP staff not to publish further allegations against the former defence minister.
Lehrmann was accused of raping
inside Reynolds’ ministerial office in 2019.
His 2022 trial was abandoned due to jury misconduct and a retrial was called off due to concerns about Higgins’ health.
He has consistently denied the accusations.
Shane Drumgold wins Sofronoff inquiry challenge
Drumgold has also successfully challenged findings made by an inquiry on Bruce Lehrmann’s trial.
In 2023, former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff was tasked with examining the role of police and prosecutors in relation to the high-profile trial.
The inquiry’s final report found Drumgold had engaged in malpractice and unethical conduct.
Drumgold launched legal action in August to invalidate the adverse findings against him, with his lawyers claiming Sofronoff’s communications with The Australian’s columnist Janet Albrechsten had “infected” him with bias.
On Monday, Justice Stephen Kaye noted that Sofronoff’s behaviour “gave rise to a reasonable intention of bias”.
“The communications that took place … was such that a fair-minded observer might reasonably have apprehended that (Sofronoff) might have been influenced by the views held and publicly expressed by Ms Albrechtsen,” he told the ACT Supreme Court.
Justice Kaye upheld seven of the eight inquiry findings Drumgold disagreed with, but said its accusations that the prosecutor had engaged in “grossly unethical conduct” during the cross-examination of Reynolds was “legally unreasonable”.
Drumgold resigned in August after the release of Sofronoff’s report.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit
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