A Tottle eclipse of the lie; Sharaz to pay $242,471+

Andrew L. Urban

West Australian Supreme Court judge Paul Tottle completed his demolition of the lie that Linda Reynolds was callous and part of a political cover up of Brittany Higgins’ rape claim against Bruce Lehrmann, with damages totalling $242,471 (plus legal costs) payable to Reynolds by Higgins’ boyfriend now husband David Sharaz. 

As Stephen Rice of The Australian reported, the judge found that the “cover-up” allegations made by Higgins that underscored Sharaz’s posts had no basis in fact and awarded indemnity costs – a higher than usual amount – against him.

“One tweet and Instagram post by Mr Sharaz on April 1, 2022, read: “I’m aghast that despite everything you put a staffer through you’re still a minister.”

“That was entirely gratuitous, Justice Tottle found, and it was entirely understandable for Ms Reynolds to feel “a bit creeped out” by Mr Sharaz’s statement: “Linda, I see you.”

“It was a statement calculated to create a sense of unease and anxiety on the part of (Ms Rey­nolds). It is a statement with intimidatory overtones,” he found.

“He awarded Ms Reynolds aggravated damages of $30,000.

“In a December 3, 2022, Facebook post, Mr Sharaz responded to another comment that had suggested Ms Reynolds was “a monster who deserves to be in jail”. He commented: “Thanks for reminding her. I hope she hears this every day until she dies.”

“The harm caused by the comment lay in the distress it caused to Ms Reynolds, the judge found, noting the former senator’s evidence that “the comment made her feel sick again and she referred to its ‘stalky nature’. This combined with the abusive and vindictive nature of the post aggravate the circumstance of publication.”

“Justice Tottle awarded aggravated damages of $20,000 for the post. Another tweet inferred that Ms Reynolds had interfered with the criminal trial against Bruce Lehrmann.

“Justice Tottle awarded Reynolds $35,000.

““Each of the defamatory publications made by him involved a variation on the theme that (Ms Reynolds) pressured or bullied (or … ‘destroyed’) Ms Higgins as part of the cover-up alleged by Ms Higgins,” Justice Tottle said.

“The cover-up allegation had no basis in fact.

“The defamatory publications were indefensible.

“The judgment comes a day after Ms Higgins lodged an 11th hour appeal with the court against the $340,000 damages and costs of more than $1m that Justice Tottle awarded after finding she had defamed Ms Reynolds in social media posts.”

Rice reported: “Sharaz would have to pay Ms Reynolds’s legal costs on an indemnity basis, a much higher proportion of ­actual cost than normally awarded.

“In this case, it is understood those costs are likely to be around $500,000.

“Justice Tottle ruled Ms Higgins should pay 80 per cent of Ms Reynolds’s bills…”

Comment:

How did Justice Tottle calculate that Reynolds was responsible for any of her own legal bills, given his judgement confirming the rightfulness of her defamation claims? He hadn’t found that the lies were only 80% wrong; Sharaz, he found, defamed Reynolds 100%.