Brittany Higgins: Crown begins closing arguments in trial of Bruce Lehrmann

A jury has been told not to be “distracted” by arguments about book deals and politics, as the Crown makes its final argument in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann.

Mr Lehrmann is accused of raping colleague Brittany Higgins in Linda Reynolds’ ministerial office at Parliament House after drinking with work colleagues in March 2019.

He has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without her consent and being reckless to her consent.

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold and Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer Steven Whybrow will make their final arguments before the jury on Tuesday.

Speaking to the jury, Mr Drumgold warned the jury against being “distracted” by side issues in the case.

“This case is not about political movements, not about political parties, and not about workplace culture,” he told the court.

“This case is not about if Brittany Higgins likes Linda Reynolds or Fiona Brown or visa versa.

“This case is certainly not about the experiences of other women in parliament or the MeToo movement.

“This case is about what happened on a couch in a room on March 23, 2019.”

Mr Drumgold told the jury that Ms Higgins had a “right” to be scared given the “strong political forces at play”.

“She was right to be scared, she was right to be cautious and she was right to move slowly and carefully handing her life over to police,” he said.

The trial was originally expected to run between four and six weeks.

But the witness list was slashed from close to 60 to 29, including the removal of high profile journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden.

More to come.