“It became really clear that this was my line of business, and I followed the party line and decided not to proceed,” Higgins told the court.
loading
“In uncertain terms, Fiona Brown told me that if I didn’t go to Washington, [where Reynolds would be based during the election] Then I wouldn’t have a job…By that time I had spent my whole life working for this moment. I went to Uni, that was my dream, and I wouldn’t let this person take it from me.”
However, she said that during the election, Reynolds did not like being in her company, which she understood was a “direct result” of the complaint.
She also recalled an incident in which Reynolds allegedly yelled at a journalist who had written about allegations of bullying in another minister’s office. Higgins said the experience made her angry that she had been bullied, causing her to ask herself, “How do you defend the offender?”
Higgins also told the court that an Australian federal police officer called her during the 2019 election asking if she was under pressure not to come forward, “at which time she denied it”.
In further evidence Thursday, Higgins said she kept the white cocktail dress she wore when she was allegedly raped in a plastic bag under her bed for six months “untouched, unclean” because she didn’t know if she could spark the incident without losing her job.
Bruce Lerman has pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault of Higgins.attributed to him:Alex Ellinghausen
The court was shown photos of Reynolds’ office, and the sofa, which Higgins said was “crammed into a corner” by Lerman, with her left leg pinned down and her right leg pinned “like a brace.”
She showed a photo of the cocktail dress she was wearing that night, and Attorney General Shane Drumgold asked Higgins what she had done to her after the alleged assault.
“I kept it under my bed in a plastic bag for six months, untouched, and unclean, I just kept it there,” Higgins said. “I wasn’t sure because of all the partisan politics how I could go forward or if I could move forward without losing my job. I just kept it there. It was an anchor for me.
“Once it became clear that I couldn’t continue, I symbolically washed the dress, and I’ve worn it again since then.”
Higgins and Lerman were part of a larger group of pals who started drinking at The Dock bar in Kingston on the night of March 22, before a smaller group advanced to another bar called 88mph, the court was told.
The court heard that when that group dispersed, Higgins and Lerman decided to share a taxi, and that Lerman said he needed to go to Parliament to pick up some documents.
Higgins cried in court as she watched footage of her being unable to put her heels back on after running through Parliamentary Security at 1.44am because she was too drunk. Visibly upset during the broadcast of the CCTV footage, Attorney General Shane Drumgold asked Higgins about her level of intoxication.
loading
“I don’t remember any of this, so it was very loud,” Higgins said as she sat in the witness box. Lerman, who is also seen in the footage, has her arms crossed at the security post, waiting for Higgins to get back in her shoes.
Unable to do so, the jury was shown another clip of Lehrmann, a security guard, and barefoot Higgins holding her high heels in one hand as the trio walked down a carpeted corridor to Reynolds’ then office, where Lehrmann and Higgins were allowed in.
The jury was shown another photo: one taken by Higgins several days after the alleged accident, showing a red mark on her thigh. Standing in the witness box, Higgins said the bruise appeared to be on her right leg.
Go beyond the hype of federal politics with news, opinions and expert analysis from Jacqueline Malley. Subscribers can sign up for the weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.
Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
No comments:
Post a Comment