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Football superstar Jarryd Hayne wants alleged rape victim to testify in court AGAIN as judge makes key decision in his third sexual assault trial
- The former NRL superstar was convicted in a second trial before it was overturned
- Hayne’s first trial on sexual assault charges ended in a split jury
- He was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.
Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will face a jury in a matter of weeks for his third sexual assault trial.
The former soccer legend did not appear in Sydney’s Downing Downtown District Court on Monday as lawyers confirmed the trial will continue on March 6.
Defense attorney Lauren MacDougall appeared in court on behalf of Mr. Hayne.
She told the court that she will request that the complainant be called back to testify at the new trial.
Judge Warwick Hunt confirmed the trial date.
Hayne (pictured at Sydney’s Merrylands Police Station in February 2022 as part of his bail conditions) has learned when he will face his third trial for sexual assault.
The former NRL superstar was all smiles when he met a friend while leaving jail in February last year after his conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered.
“The defendant has notified the crown that he seeks to remove the complainant,” Judge Hunt said before adjourning the matter for a week for pre-trial orders to be issued.
Hayne’s trial in March will be the third he has faced over allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in Newcastle in 2018.
After three days of jury deliberations, he was found guilty last year of sexually assaulting the woman in his Newcastle home on the NRL’s big night final in 2018.
Judge Helen Syme subsequently sentenced him to five years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months.
The former superstar (pictured playing for Parramatta in 2010) was regarded as one of the most exciting players in the game in his heyday, even trying his hand at the NFL.
The former Dally M winner and former NFL convert sat in the Cooma Correctional Center for nine months before the state’s highest court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, vacated his conviction and ordered a new trial.
Hayne was released from prison on February 15 in time to celebrate his 34th birthday.
The first trial in Newcastle at the end of 2020 ended with a split jury and Hayne has always denied the allegations.