<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>331607</docID> <postdate>2024-10-23 12:50:06</postdate> <headline>Lehrmann wins right to appeal without $200k wallop</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-331608" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20240617190869757090-original-1-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Bruce Lehrmann opposed paying $200,000 security to pursue his defamation case appeal. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Miklos Bolza</strong> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>Welfare-dependent Bruce Lehrmann has been handed a reprieve as he tries to overturn a major defamation loss after a judge declared his right to appeal should not be stymied by a $200,000 payment.</strong></p> <p>Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson have been blocked in their bid to get the funds paid to the court as security in the event the 29-year-old fails in his legal challenge.</p> <p>On Wednesday, Federal Court Justice Wendy Abraham found there was a public interest in allowing Lehrmann to pursue what she described as arguable grounds of appeal.</p> <p>"The finding against him is extremely serious," the judge said.</p> <p>"The impact on him if he is denied that right (of appeal) is self-evident."</p> <p>The 29-year-old has sued over a February 2021 report on The Project interviewing Brittany Higgins about her allegations she was sexually assaulted in Parliament House in March 2019.</p> <p>In April, Justice Michael Lee ruled that Lehrmann sexually assaulted Ms Higgins in Parliament House based on the balance of probabilities.</p> <p>The ex-Liberal staffer denies the claim and is not facing criminal charges over the incident after his trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.</p> <p>Lehrmann, who is supported by Centrelink benefits, would have to abandon the appeal if made to stump up the $200,000, Justice Abraham said on Wednesday.</p> <p>She criticised Ten's arguments that the appeal was not in the public interest as "too narrowly described" and "misplaced."</p> <p>She also pointed out the network and Wilkinson had also challenged various aspects of Justice Lee's findings, including that they had acted unreasonably by publishing Ms Higgins' claims of a Liberal cover-up of the rape.</p> <p>"There are no real winners in this litigation," she said.</p> <p>Justice Abraham also allowed Lehrmann to stay previous court orders that he pay $2 million in legal fees to Ten for their costs of defending the proceeding.</p> <p>Being forced to pay that amount now would throw him into bankruptcy and affect his ability to pursue the appeal, she wrote.</p> <p>Ten has already served a bankruptcy notice on the 29-year-old but has agreed not to take any further steps until the appeal is resolved.</p> <p>He will also be on the hook for Wilkinson's legal costs, which are currently unknown.</p> <p>In submissions filed with the court, Lehrmann claimed he was owed "either a seven-figure sum or at least hundreds of thousands dollars" for being defamed.</p> <p>The judge ordered Ten and Wilkinson reimburse Lehrmann for his legal costs of the security and stay applications.</p> <p>The matter will return to court on November 6, when it is hoped a date for the appeal hearing will be set down</p> </body>