Overview

• The defence told the Toowoomba District Court on July 31 that a police officer’s personal hard drive containing recordings, witness statements and digital evidence had malfunctioned then been destroyed.
• Lawyer Zali Burrows argued that the loss of potentially exculpatory material justified an application for a permanent stay of proceedings.
• Judge Deborah Richards confirmed there are no available court dates this year and indicated the trial cannot be set before 2026.
• Further hearings are scheduled on police privilege claims for August 28 and on the stay application for September 26.
• Lehrmann remains on bail and faces two counts of rape alleged to have occurred in Toowoomba in October 2021.