A defamation case is like a giant poker game where you spend a fortune to see the other guy’s cards. The trouble is, the deck is stacked with Jokers that can pop up at the most inopportune times.

Sometimes there will be an out of court settlement when one side doesn’t like the look of their cards. Other times the bets keep coming in a winner takes all showdown.

Bruce Lehrmann will learn on Monday whether his defamation case has been successful.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith was a hero, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, and Father of the Year. That is until this masthead published multiple allegations that he was involved in unlawful killings while on tour in Afghanistan.

If Roberts-Smith, the charismatic giant of a man, had issued a dignified rebuttal and not sued he might still been sitting on the public altar as an Australian icon in the eyes of many.

Instead, he gave into his instinct to charge into battle. If he had won, some believe it would have been an Australian record defamation payout. How many zeros would have been on the end of the cheque if you had falsely called a hero a murderer?

Roberts-Smith was offered an out-of-court settlement, one which would have allowed him to claim victory. Instead, he wanted blood and charged into court not knowing he had already run out of bullets.

Not for one moment did he think he would lose until he did. He walked out of the court (actually he didn’t turn up for his day of judgement) with a judge declaring he was a war criminal.

Now we have the case of Bruce........

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