A jury has found former NRL player Jarryd Hayne guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a home in Newcastle in 2018.
Hayne, 35, was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent by the jury about 3.30pm on Tuesday following 21 hours of deliberations over six days.
There were tears in the NSW District Court when the verdict was delivered, as the Dally M winner shook his head and went over to hug his wife Amellia Bonnici – who was crying with her head in her hands.
Ms Bonnici supported her husband throughout the trial from the front row of the public gallery, alongside his mother, sisters and friends.
Hayne is facing a maximum sentence of 14 years behind bars, but he will be allowed to return home to his home on the Central Coast with his wife before he goes into custody.
He had pleaded not guilty and denied sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman at her home at Fletcher, near Newcastle, in September four-and-a-half years ago.
Former NRL player Jarryd Hayne and wife Amellia Bonnici arrive at court in Sydney on Monday
The verdict on Tuesday marked the end of the third criminal trial against Hayne – the first was in Newcastle in 2020 and ended in a hung jury.
He was convicted at a second trial in March 2021 and sent to prison for nine months until he successfully appealed the decision.
This jury, who heard fresh evidence from a man the victim texted on the same day, agreed with the prior jury and found Hayne guilty of performing oral and digital sex on the woman without her consent.
The verdict came 45 minutes from when the judge, Graham Turnbull SC, addressed a question asked by the jury asking if ‘ignorance of law is sufficient defence’.
The note from the jury said it had made ‘progress’ but was still struggling to come to a unanimous decision.
‘Dear Your Honour, we have taken another vote and while we made progress we are not at unanimous,’ Judge Graham Turnbull SC read to the court.
‘We’d like to clarify if ignorance of the law is sufficient defence.’
Judge Turnbull said the short answer to the question is ‘no’ but there was a ‘little more nuance’ to it.
He told the jury they must remember the burden of proof lies with the Crown prosecutors rather with the defence case.
‘The accused does not have to prove anything,’ Judge Turnbull said.
‘In relation to this case, neither the accused nor the complainant misunderstood it was anything but illegal to force yourself on a woman without her consent whether it be digital or oral.’
In no part of Mr Hayne’s evidence did he say he did not know it was illegal to have digital or oral intercourse with someone without their consent, Judge Turnbull said.
He said if the jury accepts Mr Hayne’s evidence as ‘true or possibly true’ then it constitutes an acquittal.
‘I remind you it’s the Crown case there was never any consent to any sexual activity by words or conduct,’ the Judge said.
‘You must ensure you make a focus on the evidence in this case.’
Judge Turnbull earlier on Tuesday told the jury if they are having difficulty, to let the court know and seek further guidance.
He urged them to put aside stereotypes in the trial and ‘only have’ regard to the evidence they heard or saw.
‘Only the evidence in this trial…you must be true to your oaths,’ the Judge said.
‘I don’t want this to be seen in any way to be something intended to put any pressure on a diligent group drawn at random from the community who have been the only ones to have heard or seen the evidence.’
Hayne (pictured playing for Parramatta in 2018) has been waiting almost six days to hear the jury’s verdict in his sexual assault trial
It comes after the jury was given a ‘Black direction’ on Monday, after they sent the Judge a note saying they were struggling to come to a unanimous decision.
‘After lengthy discussion and multiple notes we are not able to make a decision,’ the note on Monday said.
‘We are seeking guidance on how to proceed.’
Judge Turnbull issued the jury with what is known as a ‘Black direction’ on Monday, which advises the group if they cannot reach a verdict after deliberations, to ‘fulfil the utilitarian objective of producing a verdict without putting undue pressure on jurors to change their minds’.
‘Members of the jury, I have been told that you have not been able to reach a verdict so far,’ Judge Turnbull told the jury on Monday.
‘I have the power to discharge you from giving a verdict but I should only do so if I am satisfied that there is no likelihood of genuine agreement being reached after further deliberation.’
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