Why Jarryd Hayne could still be in BIG trouble for allegedly raping woman – as he faces another potentially devastating legal drama

Football star Jarryd Hayne will not have to answer for the alleged rape of a woman for the fourth time after his appeal was successful. However, he still faces a civil lawsuit, with potentially serious consequences if he is found guilty.

On Tuesday, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed the former Parramatta and Gold Coast NRL player and his accuser will not be forced into a new criminal trial.

The first trial over his alleged assault on the woman at her home in Newcastle, NSW, on the night of the 2018 NRL final, ended with a jury unable to reach a verdict. He successfully appealed his conviction in the second trial, paving the way for the now overturned guilty verdict in the third trial.

However, his accuser launched civil proceedings over the alleged assault in August 2021 after he was convicted at the second trial – and now that the quashing of the criminal charges against him is a formality, that case will be heard in the NSW Supreme Court .

The trial was adjourned in September 2021 pending the outcome of Hayne’s appeal against his first conviction.

The amount of damages sought in the lawsuit has not been disclosed, but if the star’s accuser is successful, a financial penalty would follow at a time when Hayne is facing serious financial problems.

During his three trials, he racked up enormous legal bills, with the cost of his defense estimated at as much as $13,000 a day.

According to insiders, barrister Phillip Boulten SC was charging $9,900 a day, and barrister Penny Musgrove was charging $3,000 a day.

However, the former Parramatta Eels and NSW State of Origin star (pictured leaving jail earlier this month after his appeal was successful) is now facing a civil lawsuit brought by the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her .

As a result, Hayne was forced to sell a large portion of his $5 million real estate portfolio – and was also reportedly stripped of a huge amount of money by a con man in prison.

The 36-year-old was allegedly scammed out of $780,000 worth of Bitcoin by one of his fellow inmates at Cooma Correctional Centre, who convinced the star to invest with him.

Civil trials are heard by a judge, not a jury, and require a much lower standard of proof to reach a conviction than in a criminal case.

While in criminal cases the crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, in a civil case a defendant can be held liable on the balance of probabilities, as was the case when Bruce Lehrmann was found to have raped Brittany Higgins on the balance of probabilities in his criminal defamation action against Channel Ten.

The 36-year-old (pictured playing for Parramatta in 2018) is already under financial pressure due to the hefty legal bills from his three trials – a situation that could become much worse if his accuser wins damages.

This is not the first time Hayne has faced a civil lawsuit after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

In August 2019, he settled out of court for an undisclosed amount after a woman alleged he raped her while playing for the San Francisco 49ers NFL team in 2015.

Hayne’s legal team revealed how they will defend him against his Australian accuser’s lawsuit, shortly after his first rape conviction in September 2021.

His lawyer David Baran said the case was merely a “reenactment of what was alleged in the criminal trial” and said Hayne’s legal team had “identified a whole range of flaws in the statement of claim”.

“The entire plea is shameful and hopeless,” Baran said, adding that Hayne will defend himself by repeating the claim he used in his criminal trial that the woman consented to sex with him on September 30, 2018.

Hayne (pictured returning home this month after being released from prison) settled out of court for an undisclosed amount when he was sued by a woman who accused him of raping her in 2015 while playing for the San Francisco 49ers NFL team

Hayne’s three criminal cases all said the woman changed her mind about having sex with Hayne after realizing a taxi was waiting outside her house.

In a text message to Hayne after the meeting, the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, wrote: ‘I know I talked so much about sex and stuff but I didn’t want to do it after I knew the taxi was waiting for me. You.

“I thought you at least stayed?” I’m really in a lot of pain. I told mom you had a nosebleed.”

Hayne’s response was, “Go to the doctor tomorrow.”

Prosecutors at the trial alleged Hayne pulled off the woman’s pants, was rough and forceful during their sexual encounter and made her bleed. Hayne claimed the sex was completely consensual.