THE COURTS:

Network 10 says it is confident it will succeed in its bid to have evidence from a lipreading expert admitted as part of its legal defence to a defamation action now being heard in the Federal Court launched by former Morrison Government ministerial staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

The network’s lead legal counsel, Reece Pondent KC, said he had sought court approval for the unusual step of using the evidence from noted freelance lipreader Dick Shunn. (main picture)

“We are seeking to use Mr Shunn’s expertise to decipher conversations captured on security camera footage at a Canberra bar between Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins,” Mr Shunn said.

“Mr Lehrmann has made certain statements about his interaction with Ms Higgins on the night Ms Higgins accused him of sexually assaulting her and we wish to have Mr Shunn testify about what was actually said between them.”

Mr Lehrmann is suing Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson as a former presenter of its nightly current affairs discussion program, The Project, alleging he was defamed by their reporting of the allegations against him which were the subject of an ultimately abandoned court case.

Mr Pondent rejected criticisms from some legal quarters that any information provided by Mr Shunn would be the equivalent of hearsay evidence and should not be admissible.

“That’s simply not true. It is definitely not hearsay evidence, although it is not evidence in the traditional sense,” he said. “I prefer to call it ‘seesay’ evidence.”

Mr Pondent said he had arranged for Mr Shunn’s abilities to be tested by having him shown a tape of the Network 10 show Gogglebox, but with the sound turned down.

“The initial feedback was that he was spot on in his assessment of what all of the Gogglebox participants were saying to each other, namely: ‘This is shit!’,” Mr Pondent said.

“However, we are doing more tests after Mr Shunn contacted us to say he hadn’t actually translated what was being said on screen, but had merely expressed his own opinion about Gogglebox itself.”