Former Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne has won an appeal against his rape convictions and has been ordered to stand trial for a fourth time in the same case.
The 36-year-old was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury last year and sentenced to spend at least three years in jail.
He has consistently denied he attacked the woman – who cannot legally be named – in her bedroom, arguing the pair had consensual sex.
Prosecutors are now weighing up whether to drop the charges against him, they said in a statement.
Mr Hayne was one of the most high-profile athletes in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) and briefly played American football in the NFL.
His 26-year-old accuser told the New South Wales (NSW) District Court the pair had chatted on social media for two weeks before Mr Hayne stopped at her house in Newcastle – about two hours north of Sydney – after a bachelor party in September 2018.
She said Mr Hayne forced himself on her there, despite her saying “no” and “stop”, leaving her bleeding.
Mr Hayne’s appeal was heard in April by a panel of three judges from the state’s top court.
On Wednesday, two of the three ruled that the trial judge had erred in prohibiting cross-examination of the woman over certain text messages, which Mr Hayne’s legal team argued had implied her consent.
When delivering the verdict, Justice Stephen Rothman said that had amounted to a miscarriage of justice, ordering Mr Hayne’s convictions be quashed.
He was granted bail and will be released from prison.
