- 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 for the alleged rape of a woman in 2018.
The former Parramatta Eel, 36, was released from prison earlier this month after a court overturned his rape convictions for the 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 Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed on Tuesday that he will not face a fourth trial.
“Having carefully considered the many competing factors that inform the public interest assessment in this case, the ODPP has decided not to proceed with a fourth trial against Mr. Hayne,” the statement read.
‘The decision was made in accordance with the Prosecutor’s 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 met with celebrations by Hayne’s supporters earlier this month.
Jarryd Hayne will not face a fourth trial for alleged rape, ending his six-year ordeal
The former footballer’s close companion, Daniel Son, shared an image on Instagram that read: “You’re a fucking beauty.”
Three separate criminal trials were said 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 realizing he had a taxi waiting outside his house to take him from Newcastle to Sydney.
Hayne’s lawyer, Tim Game SC, told an appeal hearing in April that the woman deleted messages between her and Hayne showing she had initially shown sexual interest in him.
Hayne’s defense team also argued that the woman should have been questioned about why she allegedly told police: “If that message gets out, I’m screwed and he’ll leave.”
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’re not going to keep talking, I’ll say yes to Jarryd’ coming to her house.
They were only revealed when that man contacted Hayne’s lawyers.
The complainant messaged another woman the same day she met Hayne and told her that the footballer “attacked her”, but did not say it was not consensual.
The court was told the woman had heard Hayne’s previous appeal in 2021 and contacted the social media friend on Facebook on the same day.
“I hope this was worth it to you,” the message read.
‘The pain I have endured from all of this is unfathomable. I have never lied. I’ve never done anything to you and you writing something to JH about me inviting him doesn’t excuse what happened.
‘I didn’t tell you because it was disgusting and confusing for me. If it comes out, you can thank yourself. This has been the hardest and most painful thing I have ever been through and you can thank yourself for helping a guilty person.’
Hayne’s lawyers attempted to rely on the messages to suggest that the victim “deliberately withheld her communications because… they did not support her version of what happened and then (possibly) attempted to influence her evidence.”
Judge Graham Turnbull, who oversaw Hayne’s third trial, rejected requests for the woman to be questioned about the statement, saying it had “almost infinitesimal weight”.
Not allowing further cross-examination was one of the successful grounds of appeal.
Hayne’s overturned conviction followed a hung jury in his first trial in 2020 and an earlier appeal that overturned the 2021 guilty verdict from his second trial.
More to follow.