Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann will face trial on rape charges in a Toowoomba court.
Lehrmann is accused of two counts of sexual assault dating back to October 2021 in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.
Under Queensland law, media outlets were initially prevented from naming him as the suspect, but the state’s top court allowed his name to be published last year.
A magistrate has now decided there is enough evidence for the charges to be heard in a court trial.
Committal hearing
Last month, Lehrmann appeared in a Toowoomba court for a committal hearing — when a magistrate considers whether there is enough evidence in a case to support it going to trial.
Media were not allowed to attend that hearing due to the nature of evidence being presented by the complainant.
Today, Magistrate Mark Howden ruled a trial will proceed.
Lehrmann hasn’t entered his plea to the rape charges yet, but his lawyers have indicated to media he will plead not guilty.
Other trial
Last year, Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings over an interview broadcast on Ten’s ‘The Project’ in 2021, in which former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleged Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in March 2019.
In April, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found even though Lehrmann was identifiable, the claims made that Higgins was raped by him were, on the balance of probabilities, true.
In May, Lehrmann filed an appeal of this judgement.