Major decision on Jarryd Hayne rape trial as footy legend learns whether his six-year ordeal is over
- Jarryd Hayne will not face a fourth trial
- Hayne had been accused of rape
- His legal team successfully appealed his 2023 conviction
Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will not face a fourth trial after he successfully appealed his convictions over the alleged rape of a woman in 2018.
The 36-year-old former Parramatta Eel was released from prison earlier this month after a court overturned his rape convictions for a second time.
Hayne spent more than a year behind bars after a jury found him guilty in April 2023 of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
The Officer of the Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed on Tuesday he will not be facing a fourth trial.
'Having carefully considered the many competing factors that inform the assessment of the public interest in this case, the ODPP has determined not to proceed to a fourth trial against Mr Hayne,' the statement reads.
'The decision was made in accordance with the Prosecution Guidelines.
'As the reasons for the decision are legally privileged, they will not be disclosed and the ODPP will not comment further.'
The decision to overturn Hayne's conviction was greeted with celebrations from Hayne's supporters earlier this month.
Jarryd Hayne will not face a fourth trial for alleged rape, ending his six-year ordeal
The one-time footballer's close mate Daniel Son shared an Instagram image that said: 'You f***en' beauty'.
Three separate criminal trials were told the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, changed her mind about having sex with Hayne on the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final after realising he had a taxi waiting outside her house to take him from Newcastle to Sydney.
Hayne's barrister, Tim Game SC, told an appeal hearing in April that the woman deleted messages between herself and Hayne that demonstrated she had initially shown a sexual interest in him.
Hayne's defence team also argued the woman should have been cross-examined on why she allegedly told police: 'If those message get out, I'm f***ed and he will get off.'
The third trial heard that the woman sent messages to a man in the hours before the incident with Hayne.
In them, she said, 'If we aren't going to keep talking, I'm going to say yes to Jarryd' coming over to her house.
They were only revealed when that man contacted Hayne's lawyers.
The complainant messaged another woman on the same day she met Hayne, and said the footballer 'went down on her' but did not say it was non-consensual.
The court was told the woman had listened to Hayne's prior appeal in 2021 and contacted the social media friend on Facebook the same day.
'I hope this was worth it for you,' the message read.
'The pain I have endured from all of this is unfathomable. I have never lied. I have never done anything to you and for you to write something to JH about me having him over does not excuse what happened.
The two-time Dally M medallist has faced a six-year ordeal around an alleged incident in 2018
'I did not tell you because it was disgusting and confusing for me. If he gets out you can thank yourself. This has been the hardest most painful thing I've ever been through and you can thank yourself for helping a guilty person.'
Hayne's lawyers sought to rely on the messages to suggest the victim 'deliberately concealed her communications because... they did not support her version of what occurred and then (possibly) tried to influence in respect of her evidence'.
Judge Graham Turnbull, who oversaw Hayne's third trial, refused requests for the woman to be cross-examined on the statement, saying it carried 'almost infinitesimal weight'.
Not allowing further cross-examination was one of the successful appeal grounds.
Hayne's quashed conviction followed a hung jury in his first trial in 2020 and a previous appeal overturning the 2021 guilty verdict from his second trial.
More to follow.
