Phone records, police documents to be examined in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Normal text size Advertisement Phone records and Australian Federal Police documents will be examined in the weeks before the defamation trial brought by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, as lawyers attempt to gather more information about potential contact with witnesses. Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over a series of stories published in 2018, which he says are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed murder.