There was a criminal trial a while back, but it was declared a mistrial after some jury fuckery. They declined to re-prosecute because of the detrimental effect it would have on Higgins’ mental health. As others have said, this is a civil trial, specifically, Lehrmann trying to sue the people Higgins went to in the media to tell her story for defaming him.
Truth is a defence to defamation, so proving that the claims were true (in this case, as others have said, to the balance of probabilities, rather than beyond all reasonable doubt) is a way to win a defamation case as a defendant.
There was a criminal trial a while back, but it was declared a mistrial after some jury fuckery. They declined to re-prosecute because of the detrimental effect it would have on Higgins’ mental health. As others have said, this is a civil trial, specifically, Lehrmann trying to sue the people Higgins went to in the media to tell her story for defaming him.
Truth is a defence to defamation, so proving that the claims were true (in this case, as others have said, to the balance of probabilities, rather than beyond all reasonable doubt) is a way to win a defamation case as a defendant.