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Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne was released from custody and ordered to live with his wife following his rape convictions reversed a second time on appeal.
The 36-year-old spent a year behind bars after a jury convicted him of two counts of non-consensual sex in April 2023 after an earlier guilty verdict was overturned in a separate appeal.
WATCH ABOVE: Jarryd Hayne gets out of jail
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He was released from the Mary Wade Correctional Center in Lidcombe around 5pm on Wednesday, wearing an unbuttoned white shirt and trousers, before being rushed to the room of a waiting friend.
Hein was released on bail on the conditions that he live with his wife, be of good behavior, post a $20,000 bond and surrender his passport.
He must also not enter the Newcastle local government area, come within 200 meters of an international airport or contact the victim or any prosecution witness as he waits for his next court date to find out whether he will face a fourth trial on the charges.
Prosecutors did not oppose Hain’s release on bail Wednesday afternoon, but they need time to consider a new trial before returning to court on July 26.
“Any decision on a possible retrial will be made in accordance with prosecutorial guidelines,” a spokesman for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said in a statement.
His lawyer Lauren McDougall declined to comment on the prospect of another trial as he left the NSW Court of Appeal on Wednesday after a successful bid to overturn the April finding.
“He’s really, really looking forward to coming home to his family,” she said.
The state’s highest court overturned Hein’s convictions, ruling that the trial judge erred in not allowing further cross-examination of the appellant about her communications with third parties about the night of the alleged sexual assault.
The appeals court ruled that the judge did not properly instruct the jury on claims by Hein’s lawyers that the appellant had lied about the contact, compounding the earlier error by not allowing her to answer questions about it.
Hayne’s third ground of appeal, which argued that the now-overturned convictions were unsafe or unreasonable, was not upheld, although it persuaded one judge.
“I think there is a significant possibility that an innocent person will be convicted,” Judge Deborah Sweeney said in the court’s published reasons.
But she was overruled by judges Stephen Rothman and Anthony Meagher.
Judge Meagher did not uphold any grounds of appeal.
“I’m quite of the view that the jury could have been satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that (Hayne) was guilty,” he said.
Hayne was accused of hand and mouth raping a woman at her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.
Three separate prosecutions have said the woman, who cannot be identified, changed her mind about having sex with Hayne after realizing there was a taxi waiting outside.
He was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, but had already served part of that time before his previous successful appeal.
Judge Rothman said there was good reason not to have a fourth trial, noting it was unlikely to happen before Hayne’s three-year non-parole period expires in May 2025. Judge Sweeney concurred given the history of the matter.
“Putting (Hane) on trial for a fourth time would not be in the interests of justice,” she said.
Hayne’s barrister, Tim Game SC, told the appeal hearing in April that the messages the woman had sent to Hayne and others, deleted from her phone, constituted a deliberate concealment of evidence.
Hayne’s defense team argued the woman should have been cross-examined about why she told police: “If these messages get out, I’m screwed and he’s gone.”
Judge Graham Turnbull, who is overseeing Hayne’s third trial in the New South Wales District Court, rejected requests for the woman to be subjected to further cross-examination, saying her expected answers and their eventual absence would not create a genuine injustice.
But Justices Sweeney and Rothman ruled that Hayne’s lawyers should have been able to cross-examine the appellant and the jury went out to consider her evidence and credibility.
Hayne’s overturned convictions followed a hung jury in his first trial in 2020 and a previous appeal overturning convictions from his second trial in 2021.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.
In an emergency call 000.
Advice and counseling for men concerned about the use of domestic violence: Men’s Referral Service, 1300 766 491.
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