A jury is being told to critically analyze a period of just 27 minutes after former NRL star Jarryd Hayne used a woman’s letterbox as a stand for his ‘half-finished’ Cruiser before allegedly sexually assaulting her at her home. was said.
Crown Prosecutor John Sfinas addressed the jury in his closing arguments on Friday morning as the two-week NSW District Court trial comes to a close.
The 35-year-old Dally M winner pleaded not guilty to two counts of unauthorized sexual assault, with the jury hearing more than eight days’ worth of evidence.
Mr Hayne denies sexually assaulting the woman at her home on the outskirts of Newcastle in September 2018, on the night of the NRL grand final, claiming they engaged in consensual sex acts.
The former footy star is accused of ripping off the woman’s pants before allegedly performing oral and digital sex acts on her without her consent, resulting in cuts and significant bleeding.
Evidence closed in the trial of the former NSW and Parramatta fullback, with the closing of Crown Prosecutor submissions beginning Thursday afternoon.
Jarryd Hayne (pictured outside court with his lawyer, Maragaret Cunneen SC) is nearing the end of his sexual assault trial after more than eight days of evidence
The woman and the accuser have argued that although she had sent him sexually suggestive messages via social media, the first time they met at her home in Fletcher – which she shared with her mother – she did not consent to sexual intercourse.
She said she refused to agree because he had a taxi waiting in her front yard, right outside her bedroom window, that he paid $550 to take him from a dollar party to Sydney, where he was booked to attend a midnight event.
In the last 25 minutes of his closing speech, Mr Sfinas told the court that Mr Hayne had lied to both the alleged victim and the taxi driver, saying neither would be ‘happy about the situation’.
The court was previously told that Mr Hayne did not respond to the woman when she asked him why a taxi was waiting for him.
Mr Sfinas said the lack of response was a ‘sinking feeling of being caught’.
He said Mr Hayne had also lied to the taxi driver, saying he was at the woman’s house to ‘pick up a bag’.
“He wanted both of them to remain none the wiser,” Mr Sfinas told the court.
‘The question of sex, which was hanging in the air, had to be answered as soon as possible.
“If you accept the complainant’s version that the defendant is abusing her, you might think it was out of frustration because it wasn’t happening fast enough.”
Mr Sfinas told the court that Mr Hayne’s version of events was implausible.
The former Parramatta Eels superstar was accompanied by his wife Amelia Bonnici (left) at the trial in Sydney.
He told the jury that Mr. Hayne’s version was that he did what he did to “please the woman.”
“He wanted to please someone whose mailbox served as a stand for his half-empty drink,” said Mr. Sfinas.
“He wanted to please someone who was filthy, in his own words, that a taxi was waiting.
“He wanted to please someone who had a wedge … he wanted to please someone who said they weren’t having sex.”
Defense attorney Margaret Cunneen SC began her opening statement, telling the jury that there were two phases to the night in question.
She told the court that Mr Hayne arrived at the house at 9:07 pm and left 46 minutes later, but the sexual activity did not occur until 9:26 pm in the last 27 minutes of the visit.
“He sits there for 27 minutes, showering, explaining… he doesn’t rush off in the clumsy manner described,” Ms Cunneen told the jury.
“Ladies and gentlemen, time does not lie and the most important timing in this case is the time Mr. Hayne was at the address.”
Hayne’s lawyer Margaret Cunneen SC told the court that ‘the police had no idea’ about one area of evidence in the case
She told the court that police were “never aware” of the communication the woman had with two people in the days leading up to the alleged incident.
Ms Cunneen said it was an area of evidence that the ‘police had no idea’ until previous court proceedings.
“Mr Hayne was charged, the criminal trial took place from 2018 as the productive years of his career faded,” she said.
“A few years later, it turns out that this chronology we have here was originally much shorter in three very different respects.”
She said police never knew of any communication the woman had with another man, indicating her “state of mind.”
“You can see that in the end she deliberately put together the material she gave to the police,” Ms Cunneen said.
“If Mr. Hayne had committed these horrible crimes, why would she delete all these messages?”
Mr Sfinas said on Thursday that during a cursory encounter at her home, the woman did “certain acts” that amounted to showing she did not consent.
In his closing speech to the jury, Mr Sfinas said that demonstrating a lack of consent is broken down into words and deeds.
“The Crown says that the complainant in this case has spoken words and has done deeds,” he told the jury.
Hayne (pictured playing for NSW in 2007) lied to both his alleged victim and his taxi driver, Crown Prosecutor John Sfinas told the court
The jury was told that the woman held up her trousers when Mr Hayne tried to take them off, saying ‘no’ and ‘stop’ and resisting Mr Hayne.
She had also texted her friend in the hours following the alleged incident, saying, “I feel like I let it happen to myself by not yelling at him.”
“You might think that trying to keep her pants up is an act, walking away from someone, getting pushed and trying to push against them,” Mr Sfinas said.
“They are actions, so while she says here, ‘I feel like I let it happen to myself,’ de Kroon says she did certain actions that are consistent with showing resistance.”
Mr Sfinas told the court that the woman had always been ‘outspoken’ about her intentions towards Mr Hayne.
At the start of his speech, Mr Sfinas told the jury that Ms Cunneen had asked them to look at the alleged victim’s evidence ‘through a prism that she embellished and lied to the police’.
He told the court, “It’s the Crown that she didn’t lie. She didn’t exaggerate and she didn’t embellish.’
Mr Sfinas asked the jury to accept the woman’s evidence and said she was candid about her original intentions when she texted Mr Hayne in the weeks leading up to the alleged incident.
“She didn’t shrink, she didn’t minimize, she didn’t try to make herself look better,” he said.
“Yes, she was sexually interested and sexually attracted … she wasn’t that desperate to meet him.”
It is alleged that Hayne sexually assaulted the woman on the night of the 2018 NRL final as his taxi was waiting outside her home
The jury was told the woman was ‘open’ to the possibility of having sex with Mr Hayne, but when she realized there was a taxi waiting for the former NRL star outside, things lessened.
Mr Sfinas said this was the ‘defining moment’ for the woman as she felt she was just a ‘distraction’.
“She realizes he didn’t intend to stay too long as a taxi was waiting for him to take him upstairs,” he said.
The court heard that the woman initially did not report the incident to the police because she was afraid of what could happen to her.
In a message to a friend, the court was told she wrote: “I’m too scared to report it, he would have the money to ruin me and the last thing I need is my life out in the open .’
The Crown said it was compelling evidence because at the time the alleged incident took place, the woman said she was not sure what had happened.
Mr Sfinas said the woman was unsure if she had been digitally penetrated.
“It was at a time when she didn’t want to go to the police, it signifies her authenticity significantly,” he said.
“You might think that these actions don’t befit someone who is willing to lie, embellish, exaggerate or deceive.”
The court was told that the taxi was the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Mr Sfinas read to the court some of the woman’s pre-recorded evidence during the trial.
When asked how she felt after the taxi driver knocked on the door, the woman said “like absolute crap.”
“I felt like it was obvious what he wanted, I felt sad and stupid for flirting with him in the beginning,” she said.
“There was no way I was going to touch him… I was angry, I was hurt, I was sad, I felt like I thought this could turn into something one day, so when I trained he just wanted to ( sex) I felt worthless.’
Closing addresses continue before Judge Graham Turnbull on Friday.