Bruce Lehrmann: Australian parliament rape trial aborted over juror ‘misconduct’
The case of a former political adviser accused of raping a colleague inside Australia's Parliament House has been aborted after juror "misconduct".
Bruce Lehrmann, 27, denies sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins on a government minister's sofa after a night out in March 2019.
He says they did not have sex at all.
But after a 12-day trial and five days of deliberation the jury was discharged when it emerged one member had looked at academic research on sexual assault.
Juries are required to decide a case only on evidence presented in court.
"It may be that no harm has been done, but that is not a risk I can take," Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told a Canberra court.
Judge McCallum estimated she had given the jury at least...