Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has had a major victory in his ongoing fight against sexual assault charges, but he won't walk free from prison just yet.
The 33-year-old has won an appeal against his convictions for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman on the night of the NRL grand final in 2018.
His legal team had been aiming to have him acquitted — however, that didn't happen.
Instead, a retrial has been ordered.
If that goes ahead, it will be the third trial, after the first ended in a hung jury and he was convicted at the second.
This is how the case has unfolded so far, and what could happen next.
The night in question
At around 9.00pm on September 30, 2018, an intoxicated Mr Hayne arrived at a woman's house in Newcastle.
He had been celebrating with friends in the area on a two-day buck's weekend.
The alleged victim, then 26, had been chatting to Mr Hayne on social media over 13 days in the lead-up to their first in-person meeting that night.
The pair had a sexual encounter at the woman's house which she told the court was "forceful and rough" and left her injured.
Mr Hayne has always maintained the encounter was consensual and that any injuries caused were accidental.
The complainant has claimed in court that she never consented to sex and sent text messages to Mr Hayne after he left her house that night saying "I didn't want to do that".
In November 2018 Mr Hayne was charged with aggravated sexual assault.
The appeal
In 2020, a Newcastle jury was unable to reach a decision on whether Mr Hayne was guilty but a retrial in Sydney in 2021 returned a guilty verdict for two counts of sexual assault without consent.
He was handed a sentence of five years and nine months and sent to Cooma Correctional Centre.
In handing down her sentence, District Court Judge Helen Syme said the reliability of the alleged victim was not in doubt and Mr Hayne was aware she wasn't consenting.
"The use of force was such that the victim had no prospect of stopping him physically," Judge Syme said.
"He was at least twice her weight at 100 kilograms and an athlete at the top of his form."
Immediately Mr Hayne appealed the conviction, his lawyers claiming that Judge Syme gave the jury "flawed" directions.
They also argued complainant's evidence was inconsistent and that an outburst from the woman in court when she yelled "no means no" under cross-examination, was prejudicial.
Today the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal upheld some of the grounds for appeal, quashed Mr Hayne's convictions and ordered a retrial.
This appeal decision was made by three judges who are yet to hand down their reasons.
They will be revealed once the case has concluded in the District Court.
In the Court of Criminal Appeal the majority view prevails so only two judges need to agree to allow the appeal.
What happens now?
Mr Hayne's lawyers will make an application for bail on Thursday or Friday this week.
They are confident he will be allowed to walk free from Cooma jail.
When on bail previously, Mr Hayne had to report to police every day, surrender his passport and not leave his local area on the Central Coast, except for specific reasons.
His lawyer, Tim Game SC, would not comment on how Mr Hayne was feeling about the prospect of facing a third trial.
The date for the new trial will likely be decided at the bail hearing later this week but it might not be scheduled until 2023.
Will there definitely be a retrial?
The prosecutor will now weigh up the chances of another jury finding beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Hayne is guilty.
Sometimes a decision is made not to go to trial again as the Crown may not be confident in a guilty verdict or the complainant may not wish to take the stand again.
This is particularly relevant in sexual assault cases where giving evidence can be a harrowing ordeal.
There is also the possibility that Mr Hayne and the Crown make a deal — for example, he could plead guilty to a lesser charge.
The Crown and defence teams will likely undergo negotiations throughout this week about the prospects of a third trial.
