The trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House is set to hear evidence from people other than the alleged sexual assault victim after she became "unavailable" to continue cross-examination.
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Ms Higgins began giving evidence last Wednesday in the ACT Supreme Court trial of her former Liberal Party colleague, Bruce Lehrmann, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of engaging in sexual intercourse without consent.
Lehrmann denies raping Ms Higgins on a couch in the ministerial office of their boss at the time, Linda Reynolds, when the pair worked for the senator in March 2019. He claims no sexual activity occurred.
On Monday, when defence barrister Steven Whybrow had been due to continue cross-examining Ms Higgins, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the jury the situation had changed.
"We have a development this morning, which is that [Ms Higgins] is unavailable today," the judge said.
Chief Justice McCallum told jurors some other evidence would be called to fill the void left by Ms Higgins' unavailability.
The jury was not told when Ms Higgins was likely to be back on the witness stand.
Ms Higgins clashed with Mr Whybrow during cross-examination last week, describing one line of questioning pursued by the defence barrister as "deeply insulting".
She made that comment when Mr Whybrow suggested to her that she had not followed through on stated plans to see a doctor in the wake of her alleged rape because the incident had never happened.
MORE COVERAGE OF THE TRIAL:
- 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
"You are so incorrect," Ms Higgins added, telling Mr Whybrow she "completely rejected" what he was saying.
Cross-examination of the alleged rape victim has also canvassed issues that include the length of time Ms Higgins kept the dress she had been wearing on the night in question under her bed.
Ms Higgins initially said, in response to questions posed by prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC, that she had left it "untouched" beneath the bed for six months after the alleged rape before "very symbolically" washing it.
However, she later admitted being "just wrong" about this after Mr Whybrow produced photographs that showed her wearing it at a Liberal Party function in Perth less than two months after the alleged rape.
Another key area of cross-examination has centred on Ms Higgins deleting material from her phone before providing the device to police investigating the allegation she was raped.
The jury of 10 women and six men heard a text message to a former partner and pictures of Senator Reynolds were among what was removed from the phone before detectives received it.
Ms Higgins insisted she had not deleted anything with the intention of keeping relevant evidence from police, telling the court she had wanted "to scrub all the horrible parts out of my day-to-day existence".
The trial continues.
MORE TRIAL COVERAGE:
- 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
