Jarryd Hayne’s next legal battle
Written by admin on August 28, 2024
Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne’s legal woes are not over despite successfully appealing his rape convictions, with a civil lawsuit returning before the court.
The former Parramatta Eels fullback was found guilty last year of two counts of sexually assaulting a woman without her consent at her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.
The 36-year-old was sentenced to four years and nine months behind bars but was released in June 2024 after those convictions were quashed on appeal.
The first of three criminal trials into the allegations ended in a hung jury and the next two Hayne successfully appealed.
While the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has since ruled out a fourth trial and dropped the charges, Mr Hayne’s legal worries are far from over.
Lawyers representing the former State of Origin star returned to court on Wednesday for a directions hearing into a long-running civil suit.
Mr Hayne’s accuser first launched civil action over the alleged sexual assault in August 2021, with the matter stayed multiples times amid the repeated criminal trials.
Returning before the NSW Supreme Court, barrister Mary Keaney asked for an adjournment for the two parties “to consider an informal settlement conference”.
A lawyer representing Mr Hayne agreed to the one-week adjournment, adding that the matter was subject to “a number of stays due to other proceedings”.
Agreeing to the adjournment, registrar Jennifer Hedge told the court the matter would resume on September 4 when a hearing date will likely be set.
Mr Hayne walked free from prison in June after two years behind bars.
My Hayne was initially charged in 2018 of sexual assault, which went to trial in late-2020. The matter ended with a hung jury and no verdict.
A retrial began in March 2021 and returned a guilty verdict but was successfully appealed less than a year later in February 2022.
The final trial got under way in May 2023 and returned a guilty verdict, which was also later overturned in the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Mr Hayne has always maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty in court to the charges.
