The rogue juror responsible for Bruce Lehrmann's mistrial was the only member of the jury "holding out" on a guilty verdict, the ACT's top prosecutor believes.
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Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC gave that opinion on Thursday, as his testimony continued at an independent inquiry into how authorities handled the case.
Mr Drumgold briefly mentioned his observations of jurors on Wednesday, saying he had "noticed things in the jury that suggested that there was one person who was not in favour of the others".
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Erin Longbottom KC, asked him why he had been oberving the jury.
"Because I'm a lawyer," Mr Drumgold replied. "That's my job."
He indicated he had been trying to read jurors because he was thinking about whether he should run the case again in the event of a hung jury.
Asked by inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC whether he was saying he believed all but one of the jurors were inclined to convict Mr Lehrmann, Mr Drumgold agreed.
Mr Drumgold's barrister, Mark Tedeschi KC, brought the issue to the fore once again on Thursday.
Mr Tedeschi asked whether the juror who was perceived to be "holding out" was the same person who caused a mistrial by bringing independent research about sexual assault into the jury room.
"Yes, it was," Mr Drumgold replied.
The juror responsible for the mistrial defied at least 17 warnings from Chief Justice Lucy McCallum last year by bringing three academic papers into the jury room.
The misconduct only came to light when a sheriff's officer accidentally knocked over a folder in the jury room and spotted the title of one of the research papers.
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An investigation of the document revealed it was primarily about why people made false rape allegations and the reasons true victims might be regarded with scepticism.
Mr Drumgold decided to run the case against Mr Lehrmann a second time in the wake of the mistrial.
However, he later discontinued the matter because of fears for the life of alleged victim Brittany Higgins.
Mr Lehrmann has always denied claims he raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House in March 2019, when the pair were staffers for Liberal senator Linda Reynolds.
Mr Drumgold's evidence to the inquiry continues.
