Former Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne wins appeal against rape conviction

SYDNEY – Former Australian rugby international Jarryd Hayne’s rape conviction has been overturned on appeal.

The New South Wales State Court of Criminal Appeal ruled on Wednesday that a judge erred in not allowing further cross-examination of the plaintiff during Hayne’s trial.

The Court of Appeal in Sydney also ruled that the trial judge had not properly instructed the jury on how to deal with allegations that the plaintiff had lied.

Judge Graham Turnbull, who presided over Haynes’ third trial, rejected requests to cross-examine the woman on the statement on the grounds that it had “almost negligible weight”.

A new trial has been ordered, Hayne’s fourth. Prosecutors will decide whether he will be tried again. A judge will decide on bail for Hayne later Wednesday.

Hayne was accused of raping a woman in her home on the night of the 2018 National Rugby League final.

Three separate criminal trials have heard that the woman, whose identity cannot be verified for legal reasons, changed her mind about having sex with Hayne after she realized there was a taxi waiting outside her house.

Hayne, 36, spent the last year in prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent in April 2023, after an earlier guilty verdict was overturned on appeal.

Hayne had a long career in the NRL between 2006 and 2018, playing primarily for Parramatta and representing Australia and Fiji at international level.

He also played briefly for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL in 2015 and unsuccessfully bid to play for Fiji in the Olympic debut of sevens rugby in 2016.

Haynes’ first trial in 2020 ended with the jury being discharged after they failed to reach a majority verdict. At the second trial in 2021, he was convicted and served nine months of a five-year, nine-month sentence before successfully appealing and being released ahead of a third trial.

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