A top detective says he was directed to charge Bruce Lehrmann at a time police faced the "potential threat" of Brittany Higgins criticising their delay in making the key decision.
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Detective Superintendent Scott Moller made the revelation at an inquiry into the case of Mr Lehrmann, who denies raping Ms Higgins at Parliament House when the pair were Liberal Party staffers.
Mr Lehrmann's case was abandoned in the wake of a mistrial caused by juror misconduct.
The inquiry is now examining the actions of police, Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC and ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates in connection with the case.
On Monday, the inquiry heard police were, in late July 2021, the subject of "negative press" about whether Mr Lehrmann would be charged.
Ms Higgins' partner, David Sharaz, consequently emailed Ms Yates to express concerns about the impact of the ongoing publicity surrounding this issue.
Mr Sharaz wrote that police had previously advised the couple to expect a decision by the end of that month.
The next day, he phoned Detective Inspector Marcus Boorman and followed up with an email to that officer and Detective Superintendent Moller.
In the email, he said Ms Higgins wanted the process "resolved sooner rather than later".
"She expects that direction by the end of the day, as indicated by you both when you flew up to Brisbane," Mr Sharaz wrote.
Soon after the email, Detective Superintendent Moller's diary notes say he met with Detective Inspector Boorman about "Higgins contemplating media release".
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Joshua Jones, asked Detective Superintendent Moller on Monday if he understood Ms Higgins was proposing to be "critical of the time it has taken" to make a charging decision.
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Detective Superintendent Moller replied: "Yes."
Almost immediately after speaking to Detective Inspector Boorman, Detective Superintendent Moller contacted Commander Michael Chew to brief him on the issue.
When he did so, he received a direction from Commander Chew, his boss, to travel interstate the following week and serve Mr Lehrmann with a summons to face court.
Detective Superintendent Moller agreed with Mr Jones that "the potential threat of Ms Higgins going public about the delay" had therefore existed at the time of the decision.
However, he said it was "a little bit unfair" to suggest Commander Chew had made the decision in light of the pressure that was on him at the time.
He told the inquiry Commander Chew had been given briefings, the full brief evidence and Mr Drumgold's advice that police had sufficient evidence to charge Mr Lehrmann.
Higgins 'didn't follow' warnings
The issue of Ms Higgins and the media has come up multiple times in Detective Superintendent Moller's evidence.
He first revealed his concerns in a written statement to the inquiry.
The statement said that prior to the trial, he told Ms Yates, who was acting as Ms Higgins' "support person", that "she has to stop doing media".
Ms Yates is said to have replied: "She can't, Scott. She is the face of the movement now."
This purported comment left Detective Superintendent Moller "upset" and "mad" because he believed Ms Yates was using Ms Higgins to push her own #MeToo movement agenda.
In oral evidence on Tuesday, Detective Superintendent Moller revealed police had also told Ms Higgins a number of times about the potential for her media appearances to impact on court proceedings.
Mark Tedeschi KC, representing Mr Drumgold, asked Detective Superintendent Moller if Ms Higgins had been "reluctant" to follow these warnings.
"Well, she didn't follow them," Detective Superintendent Moller replied.
"She wasn't reluctant. She didn't do it."
Detective Superintendent Moller's evidence continues.
