One of the judges who presided over Jarryd Hayne’s successful appeal against his rape convictions has concluded there is a “significant possibility” the NRL player is “innocent”.
Hayne was released from prison on Wednesday after the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned his convictions for two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
The two-time Dally M winner was found guilty of digitally and orally sexually assaulting a woman at her home in Newcastle after a high-profile trial in the NSW District Court last year.
It was the third time he had faced a trial over the same incident and the second time he was found guilty.
Mr Hayne claims the sexual encounter was entirely consensual, but the jury accepted the woman’s version of events that she repeatedly said “no” and “stop” and was left bleeding after he pulled her pants off.
He has continued to maintain his innocence and launched an appeal against the convictions, which was upheld in a 2-1 majority decision by the Court of Criminal Appeal this week.
The fruit was hurled through a steel mesh fence separating Hayne from the general prison population and missed its target.
Hayne has faced trial three times in the NSW District Court over the rape allegations.
His first trial resulted in a hung jury in December 2020 and the second ended with convictions in March 2021 which were overturned in February 2022 on appeal.
A jury in the third trial returned guilty verdicts in April 2023 and a month later Judge Graham Turnbull sentenced Hayne to a minimum three years in jail.
On Wednesday, those convictions were quashed on the basis Judge Turnbull erred in not allowing the rape complainant to be further cross-examined during the trial.
The Court of Criminal Appeal also ruled the judge did not properly direct the jury about how to deal with allegations the complainant had lied.
A third ground of appeal, arguing the now-quashed guilty verdicts were unsafe or unreasonable, was not upheld.
The former Parramatta Eels fullback appeared in court via audio-visual link wearing a green tracksuit and a weary expression as he waited to learn the outcome of his case.
Wednesday’s verdict was greeted with celebrations from Hayne’s supporters.
The dual Dally M-winner’s close mate Daniel Son shared an Instagram image that said: ‘You f***en’ beauty.’
Three separate criminal trials were told the rape complainant 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.
Hayne’s barrister, Tim Game SC, told his appeal hearing in April the woman had deleted messages between herself and Hayne which demonstrated she had initially shown a sexual interest in him.
The footballer’s defence team also argued the complainant 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 the complainant sent messages to a man in the hours before the incident with Hayne.
In one message the complainant said, ‘If we aren’t going to keep talking, I’m going to say yes to Jarryd’ coming over to her house.
The messages were only revealed when the 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 complainant had listened to Hayne’s prior appeal in 2021 and contacted a 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.
‘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 Turnbull had refused requests for the woman to be cross-examined on the statement, saying it carried ‘almost infinitesimal weight’.
Hayne played 214 NRL games for Parramatta (191) and the Gold Coast (23) between 2006 and 2018, as well as 23 State of Origin matches for NSW (2007-2017) and 11 Tests for Australia (2007-2003).
He had a stint in the NFL as a running back with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 and missed selection for Fiji’s rugby sevens squad at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
