Australian rugby player Hayne wins appeal in rape case.
Jarryd Hayne, a former Australian rugby league player, has won an appeal against his rape convictions and has been ordered to stand trial for the fourth time in the case.
The 36-year-old was convicted of sexual assault by a jury last year and sentenced to at least three years in prison.
He has constantly denied attacking the woman in her bedroom, claiming they had consensual intercourse.
Mr Hayne was a well-known athlete in Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) and briefly played American football in the NFL.
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His 26-year-old accuser told the New South Wales (NSW) District Court that the two had been chatting on social media for two weeks before Mr Hayne came by her residence in Newcastle, about two hours north of Sydney, after a bachelor party in September 2018.
Mr Hayne, she claimed, forced himself on her despite her "no" and "stop" commands, leaving her wounded.
Mr. Hayne's appeal was considered in April by a panel of three justices from the state's highest court.
On Wednesday, two of the three concluded that the trial judge erred in limiting cross-examination of the lady over specific text conversations, which Mr Hayne's legal team claimed implied her agreement.
When Justice Stephen Rothman delivered the ruling, he said it amounted to a miscarriage of justice and ordered Mr Hayne's convictions overturned.
He was granted bail and will be released from prison.
In a statement, the prosecutors' office stated that it would review the judgment and make any decision on a future retrial in accordance with its rules.
Last year's trial was Mr Hayne's third appearance before a jury on the identical charges. His first trial resulted in a hung jury, and a guilty judgment in the second trial was reversed on appeal.
He has spent over two years in jail as the legal case has progressed, and his accuser has been compelled to testify and face extensive cross-examination several times.
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In her written reasons, Justice Deborah Sweeney stated that a fourth trial "would not be in the interests of justice".
Justice Rothman concurred, stating that a trial is "unlikely" to take place before the end of Mr Hayne's non-parole sentence, which he has already served the most of. Mr Hayne, a former captain of the Parramatta Eels, was twice named National Rugby League (NRL) player of the year and played 11 Tests for Australia. In 2015, at the height of his Australian career, he joined the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League.
