The rogue juror responsible for Bruce Lehrmann's mistrial claimed, despite being warned at least 17 times against doing independent research, they did not know it was wrong to do so.
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"I am deeply sorry for this," the juror told Chief Justice Lucy McCallum when their misconduct was discovered, according to a transcript of an in-camera hearing released by an independent inquiry.
The inquiry is scrutinising the actions of authorities in connection with the case of Mr Lehrmann, who has always denied raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House when they were Liberal Party staffers.
It has published hundreds of exhibits, including a transcript of exchanges Chief Justice McCallum had in closed court with a sheriff's officer and the rogue juror.
The sheriff's officer said he had been tidying the jury room at the end of a day's deliberations when he accidentally knocked a juror's folder off a chair.
When he went to pick up the clear folder and put it back, he noticed the title of an academic paper inside it.
Knowing the document was not among the material provided to the jury, he notified his boss and steps were taken to alert Chief Justice McCallum.
When the judge examined the juror responsible for bringing the document to court, they said they had brought it in because they "wanted to clarify a point", find out what "certain words" meant, and ensure they were "not inventing anything".
Chief Justice McCallum had, during the ACT Supreme Court trial, repeatedly told the jury not to conduct any research outside the court process.
Notwithstanding this, the rogue juror claimed not to know they had done the wrong thing.
"Can I say I give you my sincere apologies?" the juror told Chief Justice McCallum.
"I wasn't aware that ... doing this was ... in any sense a wrongdoing."
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Despite the juror's apology and their insistence that they had not told anyone else what was in the research, which consisted of academic material about sexual assault, Chief Justice McCallum decided to discharge the whole jury.
"I'm willing to take responsibility for that, your honour, if you feel that's appropriate," the juror said.
The juror, who cannot be identified by law, has not faced legal repercussions for their misconduct.
When she discharged the jury in October last year, Chief Justice McCallum said the juror's actions would amount to an offence in NSW.
"There is no such offence in the Australian Capital Territory, but it is beyond question that the conduct of the juror is such as to abort the trial," the judge said.
Mr Lehrmann was set to face a retrial in the wake of the rogue juror's misconduct, but ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC subsequently discontinued the charge levelled at him.
