Ex-NRL star Jarryd Hayne to fight lawsuit from former rape accuser – after his rape convictions were overturned twice

• Lawsuit will be played out in NSW Supreme Court
• Comes from rape accuser of the ex-NRL star
• Hayne has always maintained his innocence

By Duncan Murray For Australian Associated Press

Published: 02:52 BST, 4 September 2024 | Updated: 03:21 BST, 4 September 2024

Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will fight a lawsuit brought by his rape accuser after he was cleared of criminal allegations over her claims.

The woman’s lawyer, Gerard Gooden, told a brief NSW Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday the parties had agreed to a timetable for the matter to proceed.

‘It was stood over from last week to give the parties the opportunity to consider whether they wanted informal settlement negotiations,’ he told the court.

‘That has been declined.’

Hayne was twice found guilty of raping the woman at her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.

But a six-year legal battle ended in June when an appeal court quashed his latest convictions despite him having already served a lengthy jail term.

Prosecutors later announced they would no longer pursue criminal charges against the 36-year-old former rugby league fullback, allowing the civil case dating back to 2021 to proceed.

In April 2023, a jury in Hayne’s third trial found him guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and he was sentenced to a maximum of four years and nine months in prison.

Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will fight a lawsuit brought by his former rape accuser after he was cleared of criminal allegations over her claims

Hayne has always maintained his innocence, adamant the sexual encounter in 2018 was consensual

But the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Hayne’s convictions on the basis that a judge erred in not allowing the complainant to be further cross-examined during the trial.

During Hayne’s trials, the courts were told the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, changed her mind about having sex with Hayne after realising he had a taxi waiting outside her house.

Hayne’s quashed convictions followed a hung jury in his first trial in 2020 and a previous appeal overturning the 2021 guilty verdict from his second trial.

He has always maintained his innocence, adamant the sexual encounter was consensual. 

Hayne played 11 games for Australia and 23 matches in the NSW State of Origin side in a sporting career that also included a stint with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.

The 33-year-old cross-code athlete was accused of sexual assault in another incident in 2015 when he was playing in the National Football League for the San Francisco 49ers.

The woman, known only as JV, alleged Hayne took her home after meeting in a Californian bar and raped her. 

The case was eventually settled for nearly $100,000.

:
Ex-NRL star Jarryd Hayne to fight lawsuit from former rape accuser – after his rape convictions were overturned twice

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk