Prosecutors are set to seek Brittany Higgins' views on whether her alleged rapist should face a retrial, following the declaration of a mistrial brought about by the misconduct of a juror.
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Chief Justice Lucy McCallum has already listed the potential retrial of Bruce Lehrmann to begin on February 20, 2023, but whether the case runs again is a matter for the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions.
The director's publicly available prosecution policy outlines seven factors to be considered when deciding whether or not to pursue a retrial, including the views of the alleged victim.
The remaining factors include the reason the trial ended, the seriousness of the alleged crime, the costs to the accused and the community, and whether a new jury would be better placed to decide the case.
Lehrmann's trial, which began on October 4 after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of engaging in sexual intercourse without consent, heard from 29 witnesses over the course of about two weeks.
They included Ms Higgins, who accused Lehrmann of raping her on a couch at Parliament House in March 2019, following what was described to the ACT Supreme Court as "a drunken night out".
Senator Linda Reynolds, who employed the pair at the time in question, also gave evidence during the trial, as did fellow Liberal politician Michaelia Cash.
Chief Justice McCallum was forced to abort the trial on Thursday, having been alerted to the fact a juror had disregarded at least 17 warnings not to conduct independent research.
She said a sheriff's officer carrying out "routine tidying" had inadvertently discovered the issue by accidentally knocking over a folder in the jury room and spotting an academic research paper inside.
The document was about sexual assault, with a particular focus on false allegations and why true complaints might be regarded with scepticism.
The juror responsible for bringing the research paper into the jury room claimed it had played no part in deliberations, which had been taking place for about a week at the time of the discovery.
But Chief Justice McCallum said trusting that and allowing the trial to continue was "not a risk I can take", saying it was "beyond question" that she had to discharge the entire jury.
MORE COVERAGE OF THE TRIAL:
- How the case that 'rocked the entire political landscape' unfolded
- Mistrial in parliament rape case after problematic research enters jury room
- Morrison accused of jeopardising fair trial with 'egregious' Higgins apology
- 'Working extremely hard': Week after retiring, parliament rape trial jury still deliberating
- Deadlocked parliament rape trial jury directed to keep deliberating
- 'No pressure': Judge tells parliament rape trial jury to 'relax'
- 'Extremely important' warnings given to jury as alleged parliament rapist waits for verdict
- Judge reminds jury she's 'here to help' as parliament rape trial deliberations continue
- Parliament rape trial jury retires to deliberate on '$325k question'
- 'Prepared to say anything': Defence claims Higgins 'doesn't know what happened'
- Higgins 'right to be scared' of 'strong political forces': prosecutor
- Senator accused of trying to 'coach' defence barrister's cross-examination of Higgins
- 'Political suicide': Senator denies pretending not to know about alleged rape
- 'Nothing was fine after what you did': Higgins confronts alleged rapist, denies being 'monster'
- Lehrmann 'in a hurry to get out' after alleged rape: parliament security
- 'My world has been rocked': Lehrmann tells police of 'Bruce the rapist' impersonator
- 'Broken, shattered person': Light in Higgins 'turned off' after alleged rape
- 'Bruce got quite handsy': What Higgins told parliament police after alleged rape
- Higgins 'unavailable' to continue cross-examination in rape trial, jury told
- Higgins had planned book before being 'blown away' by $325k offer, court hears
- 'So incorrect': Higgins hits back at 'deeply insulting' cross-examination
- 'I wanted her out': Higgins denies attempt to hide evidence, admits 'scrubbing' phone
- Higgins secretly recorded 'weirdest phone call' with Cash after quitting
- 'It may sound ridiculous': Higgins admits 'mistake' about 'weird anchor' dress
- Meeting with minister at site of alleged rape felt like 'scare tactic': Higgins
- 'Like this weird anchor': Higgins kept dress under bed while weighing up action
- Higgins 'rebuffed kiss' from accused rapist before allegedly being 'trapped'
- Public 'sold a pup' with 'unstoppable snowball' story of alleged Higgins rape
