SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian court discharged a jury on Thursday in the trial of a former government adviser accused of sexually assaulting a colleague in Parliament House, after it said a juror got access to details that were not submitted as evidence.
Lucy McCallum, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, said at least one juror had access to research that was not given to the jury during the trial.
A court bailiff inadvertently found the juror had access to an academic research paper on sexual assault, court documents showed. The 12-day trial had concluded and the jury had been deliberating for five days when it was found.
McCallum said that although the juror clarified that the document had not been used, the findings had to be dealt with scepticism, leading her to dismiss the jury.
The court said a new trial would begin on Feb. 20.
A woman who was on the staff of former defence industry minister Linda Reynolds went public last year with the allegation that she had been sexually assaulted in a ministerial office in the Parliament House in Canberra in March 2019.
The allegation rocked the former government led by Scott Morrison as he struggled to placate assuage public anger months before a general election amid reports of sexual abuse, discrimination against women and misconduct in parliament.
Morrison lost a May election to the centre-left Labor party.
Defendant Bruce Lehrmann, who has been charged with sexual intercourse without consent, has pleaded not guilty.
(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Alasdair Pal, Robert Birsel)
