Sister's tribute to woman with a 'heart of gold' after alleged murder
Police found Summer Fleming, 20, with serious facial injuries at a home on Unicomb Close at about 4.45am on Monday after a triple zero call for help.
Her partner of a little more than a year, 31-year-old Jethro Gamueda, was arrested at the scene and remains behind bars accused of domestic violence murder.
Ash Heggie-Martin told the Newcastle Herald that her little sister Summer was one of a kind.
"She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone," she said.
"Her smile lit up a room as soon as she walked in, she is the best sister anyone could ever ask for."
Ms Heggie-Martin said her family was grieving Summer's tragic death and they adored her.
"She was very loved and will be deeply missed," she said.
Summer was remembered as a young woman who enjoyed spending time with her friends and family, going to nice restaurants and "getting a good feed", and loved her music, among so many more things.
Meanwhile, her alleged killer did not appear in bail court on Tuesday when his single charge was mentioned for the first time.
Gamueda's defence solicitor Mohamed Bejjaoui made no application for bail and magistrate Elizabeth Bushby formally refused his release from custody.
The case was adjourned to Newcastle Local Court in October. Detectives investigating the alleged murder under Strike Force Clarbeni will compile a brief of evidence in the meantime.
Gamueda was arrested on Monday morning and spent the day at Maitland Police Station before he was charged with one count of domestic violence murder that night.
Emergency services had rushed to a home on Unicomb Close at Rutherford, in the Hunter, before dawn on August 18 after a triple zero call.
Police officers found the 20-year-old woman unresponsive and suffering serious facial injuries. They commenced CPR and NSW Ambulance paramedics also arrived to treat the woman, but she could not be revived.
Police arrested Gamueda at the scene. Early investigations revealed he had been in a domestic relationship with Summer for just over 12 months, police said at the time.
Police set up a crime scene on the otherwise quiet cul-de-sac, which was analysed by specialist forensic officers.
A senior police officer on Monday described the young woman's death as "tragic". Residents of Unicomb Close also described their shock and sadness at the news she had died allegedly at the hands of her partner.
THE GRIEVING sister of a woman allegedly murdered at the hands of her boyfriend at Rutherford has remembered her as having a heart of gold.
Police found Summer Fleming, 20, with serious facial injuries at a home on Unicomb Close at about 4.45am on Monday after a triple zero call for help.
Her partner of a little more than a year, 31-year-old Jethro Gamueda, was arrested at the scene and remains behind bars accused of domestic violence murder.
Ash Heggie-Martin told the Newcastle Herald that her little sister Summer was one of a kind.
"She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone," she said.
"Her smile lit up a room as soon as she walked in, she is the best sister anyone could ever ask for."
Ms Heggie-Martin said her family was grieving Summer's tragic death and they adored her.
"She was very loved and will be deeply missed," she said.
Summer was remembered as a young woman who enjoyed spending time with her friends and family, going to nice restaurants and "getting a good feed", and loved her music, among so many more things.
Meanwhile, her alleged killer did not appear in bail court on Tuesday when his single charge was mentioned for the first time.
Gamueda's defence solicitor Mohamed Bejjaoui made no application for bail and magistrate Elizabeth Bushby formally refused his release from custody.
The case was adjourned to Newcastle Local Court in October. Detectives investigating the alleged murder under Strike Force Clarbeni will compile a brief of evidence in the meantime.
Gamueda was arrested on Monday morning and spent the day at Maitland Police Station before he was charged with one count of domestic violence murder that night.
Emergency services had rushed to a home on Unicomb Close at Rutherford, in the Hunter, before dawn on August 18 after a triple zero call.
Police officers found the 20-year-old woman unresponsive and suffering serious facial injuries. They commenced CPR and NSW Ambulance paramedics also arrived to treat the woman, but she could not be revived.
Police arrested Gamueda at the scene. Early investigations revealed he had been in a domestic relationship with Summer for just over 12 months, police said at the time.
Police set up a crime scene on the otherwise quiet cul-de-sac, which was analysed by specialist forensic officers.
A senior police officer on Monday described the young woman's death as "tragic". Residents of Unicomb Close also described their shock and sadness at the news she had died allegedly at the hands of her partner.
THE GRIEVING sister of a woman allegedly murdered at the hands of her boyfriend at Rutherford has remembered her as having a heart of gold.
Police found Summer Fleming, 20, with serious facial injuries at a home on Unicomb Close at about 4.45am on Monday after a triple zero call for help.
Her partner of a little more than a year, 31-year-old Jethro Gamueda, was arrested at the scene and remains behind bars accused of domestic violence murder.
Ash Heggie-Martin told the Newcastle Herald that her little sister Summer was one of a kind.
"She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone," she said.
"Her smile lit up a room as soon as she walked in, she is the best sister anyone could ever ask for."
Ms Heggie-Martin said her family was grieving Summer's tragic death and they adored her.
"She was very loved and will be deeply missed," she said.
Summer was remembered as a young woman who enjoyed spending time with her friends and family, going to nice restaurants and "getting a good feed", and loved her music, among so many more things.
Meanwhile, her alleged killer did not appear in bail court on Tuesday when his single charge was mentioned for the first time.
Gamueda's defence solicitor Mohamed Bejjaoui made no application for bail and magistrate Elizabeth Bushby formally refused his release from custody.
The case was adjourned to Newcastle Local Court in October. Detectives investigating the alleged murder under Strike Force Clarbeni will compile a brief of evidence in the meantime.
Gamueda was arrested on Monday morning and spent the day at Maitland Police Station before he was charged with one count of domestic violence murder that night.
Emergency services had rushed to a home on Unicomb Close at Rutherford, in the Hunter, before dawn on August 18 after a triple zero call.
Police officers found the 20-year-old woman unresponsive and suffering serious facial injuries. They commenced CPR and NSW Ambulance paramedics also arrived to treat the woman, but she could not be revived.
Police arrested Gamueda at the scene. Early investigations revealed he had been in a domestic relationship with Summer for just over 12 months, police said at the time.
Police set up a crime scene on the otherwise quiet cul-de-sac, which was analysed by specialist forensic officers.
A senior police officer on Monday described the young woman's death as "tragic". Residents of Unicomb Close also described their shock and sadness at the news she had died allegedly at the hands of her partner.
THE GRIEVING sister of a woman allegedly murdered at the hands of her boyfriend at Rutherford has remembered her as having a heart of gold.
Police found Summer Fleming, 20, with serious facial injuries at a home on Unicomb Close at about 4.45am on Monday after a triple zero call for help.
Her partner of a little more than a year, 31-year-old Jethro Gamueda, was arrested at the scene and remains behind bars accused of domestic violence murder.
Ash Heggie-Martin told the Newcastle Herald that her little sister Summer was one of a kind.
"She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone," she said.
"Her smile lit up a room as soon as she walked in, she is the best sister anyone could ever ask for."
Ms Heggie-Martin said her family was grieving Summer's tragic death and they adored her.
"She was very loved and will be deeply missed," she said.
Summer was remembered as a young woman who enjoyed spending time with her friends and family, going to nice restaurants and "getting a good feed", and loved her music, among so many more things.
Meanwhile, her alleged killer did not appear in bail court on Tuesday when his single charge was mentioned for the first time.
Gamueda's defence solicitor Mohamed Bejjaoui made no application for bail and magistrate Elizabeth Bushby formally refused his release from custody.
The case was adjourned to Newcastle Local Court in October. Detectives investigating the alleged murder under Strike Force Clarbeni will compile a brief of evidence in the meantime.
Gamueda was arrested on Monday morning and spent the day at Maitland Police Station before he was charged with one count of domestic violence murder that night.
Emergency services had rushed to a home on Unicomb Close at Rutherford, in the Hunter, before dawn on August 18 after a triple zero call.
Police officers found the 20-year-old woman unresponsive and suffering serious facial injuries. They commenced CPR and NSW Ambulance paramedics also arrived to treat the woman, but she could not be revived.
Police arrested Gamueda at the scene. Early investigations revealed he had been in a domestic relationship with Summer for just over 12 months, police said at the time.
Police set up a crime scene on the otherwise quiet cul-de-sac, which was analysed by specialist forensic officers.
A senior police officer on Monday described the young woman's death as "tragic". Residents of Unicomb Close also described their shock and sadness at the news she had died allegedly at the hands of her partner.
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ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Bruce Lehrmann's lawyer seems to have forgotten one key detail: the defamation case was his idea
Bruce Lehrmann's bid to overturn the damning findings of his failed defamation case made for intensely awkward viewing. The former Liberal staffer was back in court this week, more than a year after Federal Court Justice Michael Lee dismissed his case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, over the blockbuster interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project in 2021. Justice Lee was satisfied that the civil standard had been proven — that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins in an office at Parliament House after a night out drinking. But Mr Lehrmann, who has always maintained his innocence, launched an appeal seeking to overturn that judgment. For that task, he retained Zali Burrows, a high-profile Sydney solicitor whose primary experience has been in criminal law. She would spend the two days of appeal hearings acting alone for Mr Lehrmann — who sat beside her at the bar table — having confessed to the Federal Court that her client could not afford Sydney silk Guy Reynolds. She conceded she was underprepared. "I'm just going to try and do the best I can," she told the court on Wednesday. It was just the first sign that the path ahead for Mr Lehrmann's appeal would be rocky. Ms Burrows claimed Justice Lee's findings erred in four ways, but she frequently found a way back to her central point: that Mr Lehrmann had been denied procedural fairness. She claimed the original trial judge came up with "his own version" of how the alleged rape occurred, which strayed too far from the "forceful" rape that The Project had presented. "It is not, with respect, a judge's role to do that," Ms Burrows said. At one point, Ms Burrows even tried to characterise the court's findings as describing a "soft rape" — a kind of "consolation prize" for Network Ten, since she said Justice Lee was not persuaded as to the network's version of events. And her argument that the case could have turned out differently if a varying set of allegations had been put to Mr Lehrmann was met with confusion by the three-judge bench. "You need to explain why it is a different case," Justice Craig Colvin told Ms Burrows. "His Honour [Justice Lee] didn't find sex on a different day … with a different lead up of different circumstances … "The findings His Honour has made are all within the four corners of what was described. Justice Michael Wigney also pointed out that Mr Lehrmann has consistently maintained his innocence and said that no sexual intercourse took place. He told Ms Burrows it would not have made sense for Mr Lerhmann to have faced questions about the nature of an act he was denying. It was a point that went "round and round in circles," Justice Wigney said, summarising the clear observation that Ms Burrows seemed overwhelmed. Struggling to articulate certain arguments, answer questions clearly, follow page references, or, at times, even find documents, Ms Burrows laboured to advance the 16 pages of written submissions she had lodged months ago. Indeed, she strayed far from them, often lapsing into criminal terminology, such as telling the court there was a case put "against" Bruce Lehrmann that he was required to "defend". Of course, Mr Lehrmann has already been through that process in the ACT, which ended in a mistrial with no verdict and no criminal findings against him. But anyone who heard Ms Burrows's description of Mr Lehrmann's appeal grounds could be forgiven for forgetting that her client was the applicant — and now appellant — in a civil proceeding. Mr Lehrmann was the one who — to borrow a phrase associated with this case — "made the mistake of going back for his hat". Nor did the civil case require proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. While it was still Network Ten's job to justify its broadcast, establishing the "substantial truth" would suffice. Ms Burrows was up against two of the country's most accomplished defamation specialists in Matthew Collins and Sue Chrysanthou. Her learned friends were friendly enough to recognise that Ms Burrows needed time to review the vast bundles of material from the trial, with which they were innately familiar. Perhaps given that familiarity, they also used the opportunity of the appeal to launch their own contentions with Justice Lee's finding. Network Ten urged the court to find Bruce Lehrmann did in fact know he did not have consent for sex, based on how intoxicated Brittany Higgins was, and his role in encouraging her to drink. Ms Chrysanthou also sought to reverse Justice Lee's decision to dismiss Lisa Wilkinson's qualified privilege defence. She argued the journalist acted reasonably in preparation of the program, going so far as to prepare interview questions from a make-up chair if Mr Lehrmann took the opportunity for a right of reply on the day of the broadcast. Four years and three courts later, Mr Lehrmann has certainly exercised that right. The Full Court of the Federal Court has reserved a decision which could prove to be the end of what Justice Lee described as "an omnishambles".
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- News.com.au
The question Bruce Lehrmann was asked after solicitor's bold claim
Bruce Lehrmann has been asked by journalists whether he was okay as he exited court on Thursday afternoon, after his solicitor told an appeal hearing into his defamation suit loss that reporters didn't have anything nice to say about him. Justice Michael Lee last year found that Lehrmann – on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities – had raped his colleague Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019. Lehrmann sued Lisa Wilkinson and Ten over Higgins' The Project interview but Justice Lee made damning findings against him and he was subsequently ordered to pay $2m in Ten's legal costs. The former Liberal staffer has now appealed Justice Lee's decision and was represented by solicitor Zali Burrows at an appeal hearing before the Full Court of the Federal Court over the last two days. Ten was represented by Dr Matt Collins SC while barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC appeared for Ms Wilkinson. 'Are you okay, Bruce?' Lehrmann emerged from the court complex on Thursday afternoon alongside his solicitor. He had been present in the court, sitting at the bar table next to Burrows, for the first day and a half of the appeal hearing. But was not inside courtroom 21 after the lunch break on Thursday afternoon. Lehrmann remained inside the court complex for the afternoon session and emerged alongside Burrows. Burrows told the court late on Thursday afternoon that the media pack was not 'going to have anything nice to say to him' or 'even ask are you okay?' As he left the court he was peppered with questions by the media including 'Do you think you made your case?' and 'How do you think the last two days went?' He was also asked: 'Are you okay, Bruce?' Lehrmann did not answer questions as he walked through the media pack and down Macquarie St. Nothing nice to say Burrows has ended the hearing by claiming that none of the journalists waiting outside the court for Mr Lehrmann were going to ask if he's okay. The hearing was supposed to go for three days but has wrapped up after two and the court has reserved its decision. Ms Burrows ended by arguing that Justice Lee's findings had taken a toll on him. 'When Mr Lehrmann leaves the court today, I'm pretty sure no one in the back of the court or any of the reporters downstairs are going to have anything nice to say to him,' Ms Burrows said. 'And not even ask are you okay? Justice Craig Colvin interjected: 'Is this a speech or this a submission?' 'If it wasn't so serious' Meanwhile, Brittany Higgins has made a cryptic Instagram post while the case was going on. Ms Higgins has not been present at the Federal Court for the appeal, which is unsurprising given she is not a party to the proceedings. 'I'm struggling to understand' Burrows has been pulled up by a judge after she suggested that Lehrmann was given a 'consolation prize'. She argued that Justice Lee 'made a new case up?' Justice Michael Wigney replied: 'What new case? You tell me what new case?' Burrows continued: 'It was asserted against Mr Lehrmann … that he violently raped, that it was done in a violent nature. Whereas His Honour found a totally different case as if it was, using the phrase, a soft rape.' Wigney: 'I don't think his honour A) said anything about a violent rape or a soft rape. He made findings about what happened and what Mr Lehrmann's state of mind was. I'm struggling to understand by what you mean that it was a new case.' Justice Wigney said Justice Lee made some findings in Lehrmann's favour after he could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of some of Ten's and Wilkinson's claims. Burrows said: 'He should have just found 'that did not occur to the way that she (Ms Higgins) said'. Instead it's like he's given a consolation prize.' Judge Craig Colvin: 'The subject matter does not merit that kind of …' Ms Burrows then said: 'Sorry, your honour.' Burrows cut off Burrows has been cut off by one of the justices overseeing the appeal after making a submission about loud music and screaming inside the ministerial suite. She is arguing that Lehrmann had 'no opportunity' to contradict the version of events found by Justice Lee. Burrows said: 'There were no submissions by Ms Wilkinson and Ten on that case. There were no submissions put to the judge on this. Generally, we say that Mr Lehrmann could have conducted the case differently if the version — that the judge had found — against Mr Lehrmann had been put to him at the beginning. Justice Michael Wigney: 'How?' Burrows replied: 'It could have been, depending on the particular type of allegations, what witnesses could have been called.' Wigney said: 'We're talking about while they were alone in the ministerial suite? Now let's put aside the calling of further witnesses, how could he have conducted his case differently? 'Your Honour, going back on that, let's just say (there was) a version of what happened that there was loud music playing and screaming or something else happening, then he could have called …,' Ms Burrows said. Wigney said: 'This appears entirely hypothetical because no one was suggesting that version of events and no one found that version of events.' Lehrmann absent Lehrmann has sat beside Burrows at the bar table for the first day and a half of the appealing hearing. However he was absent from the courtroom after lunch and is nowhere to be seen. Burrows grilled Burrows is being pressed by one of the three judges overseeing the appeal her claim that Lehrmann was not afforded procedural fairness. She has claimed that some of Justice Lee's findings were different from the case put forward by Ten and Wilkinson and it was not cross examined on them. But Justice Michael Wigney argued that the imputations were not important, but the 'defamatory sting' that he raped his colleague was the 'essential' part of the case. 'Yes, but it comes back down to surely it would have been in the realm of the way the case was pleaded as to what the allegations were,' Burrows argued. 'The way it was pleaded, those imputations pleaded different things such as a forceful rape.' 'Additional time' We've had a delay in the hearing on Thursday after Burrows asked the court for an adjournment. Ms Burrows is due to make oral submissions to the court on the topic of Ten and Wilkinson's qualified privilege defence, which failed at trial. Wilkinson is now attempting to have that finding overturned. Ms Burrows on Thursday afternoon asked the court for an adjournment so that she could begin tomorrow morning. 'Can we commence this tomorrow morning at 10.15, we just require some additional time,' Ms Burrows said. 'I'm also instructed that there's been some assertions in respect of the transcript which may not be correct, we need this time to check.' Justice Michael Wigney denied that request. Ms Burrows began her arguments but shortly after asked for an early lunch break. The court will return at 2.15pm. 'Run a red light' Lehrmann's lawyer has questioned whether Wilkinson would have run a red light if her lawyers told her it was legal. In his trial judgment, Justice Lee made adverse findings against Ms Wilkinson and Ten after she made a Logies speech referencing Higgins' allegations on the eve of Lehrmann's criminal trial. The speech resulted in Chief Justice Lucy McCallum delaying the trial by three months. Ms Chrysanthou has told the court that Ms Wilkinson made the speech after being given repeated legal advice by the network's lawyers, as she argued she acted reasonably. But Ms Burrows said that argument raised the question whether Wilkinson would break the law if her lawyer told her it was okay. '(Wilkinson argues) she is not a lawyer and relied upon the advice of lawyers in respect of the program,' Ms Burrows said in her written submissions. 'This raises the question was it reasonable to rely upon legal advice when in the face of it is plainly wrong, which raises the proposition, if a lawyer tells you that you can run a red light, would you do it? 'With respect to Ms Wilkinson, a sophisticated highly intelligent and experienced journalist, it appears disingenuous to claim that she would follow the advice of lawyers notwithstanding it was obviously bad advice.' 'Whodunnit' Bruce Lehrmann's lawyer has argued that he was not named in The Project broadcast because they were trying to create a 'whodunnit'. Ms Wilkinson has argued that she acted reasonably when preparing the broadcast and has challenged Justice Lee's finding that their qualified privilege defence had failed. Ms Chrysanthou has pointed out that Lehrmann was not named by The Project - but accepts he was identifiable to a small number of people. However, in her written submissions — which were published by the court on Thursday — Ms Burrows argues Ten and Wilkinson did not name him for 'disingenuous' purposes. 'Mr Lehrmann does not agree with Ms Wilkinson's assertion it was a factor to consider on assessing reasonableness, that in effect she should be commended for not naming Mr Lehrmann in the program is viewed is disingenuous, and viewed as a crafted strategy to maximise the ratings of a story, to achieve an exciting air of mystery akin to a 'whodunnit', a common phrase used to ask who committed a crime with the effect of provoking a greater public interest to 'create chatter' a 'buzz', placing the primary focus on the identity of the alleged perpetrator, arguably highlighting the sensationalism of a complex plot-driven story involving political scandal cover up of a rape in Parliament,' she wrote. 'Cover up' Ms Chrysanthou has told the court Justice Lee in his finding was 'distracted' by the 'so-called cover-up' allegation. In his judgment, Justice Lee wrote that 'the allegation of rape was the minor theme, and the allegation of cover-up was the major motif' of The Project broadcast. Ms Chrysanthou told the court on Wednesday: 'His Honour should have been more open to the reasonableness finding because that's an acceptance of the fact because the program really wasn't about Mr Lehrmann.' She also disputed Justice Lee's finding that the broadcast made allegations of 'corrupt conduct'. Ms Chrysanthou said the cover-up allegations would be relevant if Ms Wilkinson considered Higgins' rape allegations 'absurd and fanciful'. 'That just wasn't the way His Honour addressed it,' Ms Chrysanthou said. Justice Michael Wigney said: 'It's of some relevance is it not? 'Because His Honour's reasoning was, given the way this story has been initially presented by (Higgins' partner) Mr (David) Sharaz in particular - that is that it was a political bombshell so to speak - that should have caused her to be even more cautious about her underlying allegation. 'You can't completely disassociate the two.' Qualified privilege Justice Lee did make adverse findings against Wilkinson and Ten after their qualified privilege defence failed. Qualified privilege is a defence to defamation but relies on whether the publisher's conduct was 'reasonable'. Wilkinson is appealing against that and Ms Chrysanthou is arguing that her client acted reasonably when preparing the Project broadcast. 'There was a huge amount of communication between the producers that Ms Wilkinson was excluded from,' Ms Chrysanthou told the court on Thursday. Ten say Lehrmann was 'totally unreliable' Lehrmann has asked that Justice Lee's findings be overturned on appeal, arguing that they differed from the case pleaded by Ten and Wilkinson, as well as the oral evidence at trial. However in the written submissions which were, on Thursday, released by the court, Ten's legal team of Dr Collins and Tim Senior argue: 'None of these submissions is correct.' They say it was not an 'exceptional case' where Justice Lee could not have been able to make findings either way about whether Lehrmann and Higgins should be believed. 'Rather, the primary judge found Mr Lehrmann to be a totally unreliable witness, while being forcefully struck by the credibility of Ms Higgins' oral evidence of the sexual assault,' Ten says in their submissions. Lehrmann contends he was denied 'procedural fairness' because some of Justice Lee's findings were never put to him when he was on the witness stand. It's a proposition that Ten attacked, saying that from the outset of the case they had put forth an alternative case that Higgins was too drunk to give consent. 'He was extensively cross-examined as to his knowledge of Ms Higgins' state of intoxication,' they said. During the trial, Dr Collins asked: 'Now, Mr Lehrmann, did you at any time seek Ms Higgins' consent to have sexual intercourse with you?' Lehrmann replied: 'I didn't have sexual intercourse with her.' 'Denial of natural justice' Ms Burrows told the court on Wednesday that Lehrmann was the victim of procedural unfairness because the findings of Justice Lee were different to the case put forward at trial. 'It's a really, serious unfair denial of natural justice if Mr Lehrmann goes through a trial where it's said 'you are accused of A, B, D, E to Ms Higgins, this is the way it happened. And the judge finds 'well I don't find any of those A, B, C, D, E',' Ms Burrows said. However Justice Michael Wigney replied: 'That's not what happened. He did a find … it was A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I … A number of the matters alleged and particularised were found.' Ms Burrows further argued that it was pleaded by Ten and Wilkinson as a 'violent rape' but Justice Lee found it was a 'non-violent rape'. Justice Craig Colvin replied: 'I'm not sure he found a non-violent rape and I'm not sure that's a concept that I understand.' Ms Burrows told the court that Lehrmann was 'taken by surprise' that Justice Lee made findings that differed from Ms Higgins' account and 'he came up with a different version, a softer version.' 'Australia's most hated man' In his judgment, Justice Lee found that Lehrmann could have only been awarded $20,000 had he won the trial. However Ms Burrows said he should be awarded a substantial amount if he had the findings overturned on appeal. She has pointed to media coverage of the trial, 'social media insults he gets' and other 'harassment'. 'He's pretty much become the national joke,' Ms Burrows said. 'As I previously submitted to this court, he's probably Australia's most hated man.' Ten attack's Lehrmann's 'astonishing' claim Dr Collins on Wednesday attacked Lehrmann's argument that he might have given different evidence had he known the findings that Justice Lee was going to make. At trial, Lehrmann told the court that he had no sexual contact with Ms Higgins at Parliament House. Ms Burrows told the court on Wednesday that he was the victim of procedural fairness and was surprised by Justice Lee's findings. But Dr Collins attacked that argument as 'astonishing' given that he has persistently claimed that he did not have sex with Ms Higgins. 'Our learned friend said today at the bar table that well the unfairness resides in the fact they might have called further evidence, although she backed away from that when questioned about that evidence might have been,' Dr Collins said. 'There were only two people in the room. 'But she said Mr Lehrmann's evidence might have been different. 'That's, with respect, an astonishing submission. 'It could only be that had the pleading alleged a sexual assault in which consent was in question, he would have conceded having sexual intercourse with her and argued that he had her consent or thought he had her consent.'
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Alleged murder victim's body not found for 20 days, as man charged granted home detention bail
The body of an alleged murder victim was not found for 20 days and her cause of death remains "unascertained" – but her alleged killer's bloodied fingerprints were found at a crime scene, a court has heard. Lionel Ernest Bernard, 52, previously pleaded not guilty to murdering his 44-year-old partner after her decomposing body was discovered at a home in Felixstow in November 2023. He was granted home detention bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today, but will not be freed because his proposed bail address – to live with a family member – was not deemed suitable. Mr Bernard's defence lawyer, Jane Powell, told the court a post-mortem report had listed the victim's cause of death as "unascertained", and noted she had comorbidities which could have played a role in her death, including liver disease and heart disease. "At trial, the primary issue will be causation … my submission is that the prosecution will not be able to exclude other causes of death," she said. Ms Powell said the report noted the victim had multiple facial injuries which occurred around her time of death, but they had not caused her death. She said prosecution evidence included CCTV footage of her client at the home around the time the woman died, while Mr Bernard had attempted to call triple-0 twice "three or four hours apart". Ms Powell said her client – who grew up in the state's APY Lands – had limited English skills and may not have been able to articulate to a call-taker. The court heard the victim was last seen alive on October 25, 2023, and that Mr Bernard had attempted to catch a bus to Port Augusta on October 26 before succeeding the next day, on October 27. It heard he went to his brother's house in Port Augusta, and the victim's phone was later found at that address. Kirby Draper, prosecuting, told the court Mr Bernard's family members had been "lying" when they gave statements to police suggesting they had spoken to the victim the day after Mr Bernard arrived in Port Augusta. "We say, on the prosecution case, that cannot be right," she said. "The phone attributable to the deceased was in the defendant's possession." She said the victim's body was found on November 15, and when police arrived at the scene they found "a very significant pool of blood on a chair" and more blood throughout the house. She said there were "rudimentary" efforts made to clean the area, while an attempt had also been made to conceal boots with the defendant's DNA and the victim's blood on them in a cupboard. "Perhaps most compellingly, there is smeared blood and cleaning cloths stained with that blood … (and) the evidence of fingerprints, or palm impressions of the defendant marked in the deceased's blood," she said. She said while the pathology report had noted the victim had a number of comorbidities, there was not evidence they were "at end of life stage". Ms Kirby also told the court the triple-0 calls were made around the time Mr Bernard was attempting to leave Adelaide. She told the court prosecutors opposed bail on three grounds including the gravity of the offending, risk of re-offending and the risk Mr Bernard could abscond. She said two proposed home detention addresses were not suitable because potential witnesses resided at one, while the alleged victim of an unrelated domestic violence incident lived at another. Magistrate Justin Wickens said he would grant Mr Bernard, who was assisted by an interpreter, release on home detention bail if a suitable address could be found for him to reside. He adjourned the case for a month to allow time to find a suitable residence.
