A woman who accused former NRL star Jarryd Hayne of sexual assault took ‘a number of acts’ consistent with showing she did not consent to a brief encounter at his home, a jury has been told.
Crown prosecutor John Sfinas addressed the jury in his closing arguments on Thursday afternoon as the two-week trial in the NSW District Court entered its final phase.
The 35-year-old Dally M winner pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault without consent, in a jury hearing more than eight days of evidence.
Mr Hayne has denied sexually assaulting the woman at his home outside Newcastle in September 2018, on the night of the NRL grand final, saying they had consensual sex.
The former footy star is accused of removing the woman’s trousers before allegedly performing oral and digital sexual acts on her without her consent, causing cuts and extensive bleeding.
The woman who accused Hayne (pictured outside court) of sexual assault showed she did not consent to his words and actions, the Crown prosecutor told the court
Evidence has concluded in the former NSW and Parramatta fullback’s trial, with closing submissions from the crown prosecution beginning on Thursday afternoon.
The woman and the crown prosecution argued that while he sent her sexually suggestive messages via social media, the first time they met at his home in Fletcher – which he shared with his mother – she did not consent to sex.
He said he refused to agree because there was a cab waiting in front of him, just outside his bedroom window, that he paid $550 to take him from a buck’s party to Sydney where he was booked to attend a midnight events.
During his closing address to the jury, Mr Sfinas said in terms of showing lack of consent, it is separated into words and actions.
‘The Crown says the complainant in this matter said words and took actions,’ he told the jury.
The jury heard the woman pulled up her trousers when Mr Hayne tried to remove them, saying ‘no’ and ‘stop’ and resisting Mr Hayne.
She also texted her friend in the hours following the alleged incident, saying: ‘I feel like I let this happen to myself by not yelling at her.’
‘You can imagine that trying to hold his pants is an act, walking away from someone, pushing and trying to push it back,’ said Mr Sfinas.
‘They were actions, so while he was saying here, ‘I feel like I let this happen to myself’, the Crown said he actually took some actions consistent with showing resistance.’
The former Parramatta star (pictured outside court with wife Amellia Bonnici) pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault without consent
Mr Sfinas told the court the woman had always been ‘honest’ about her intentions with Mr Hayne.
At the start of his speech, Mr Sfinas told the jury that Ms Cunneen had asked them to look at the victim’s alleged evidence ‘through a prism that he embellished and lied to the police about’.
He told the court: ‘It is the crown’s submission that he did not lie. He did not exaggerate and he did not beautify.’
Mr Sfinas asked the jury to accept the woman’s evidence, saying she was honest about her original intentions when Mr Hayne texted in the weeks before the alleged incident.
‘He didn’t diminish, he didn’t minimize, he didn’t try to make himself better,’ she said.
‘Yes she was sexually interested and sexually attracted … she wasn’t that desperate to meet him.’
The jury was told the woman was ‘open’ to the possibility of having sex with Mr Hayne but this was reduced when she noticed a taxi waiting for the former NRL star outside.
Mr Sfinas said this was the ‘defining moment’ for the woman because he felt she was just a ‘diversion’.
‘He realized he didn’t intend to stay long because a taxi was waiting for him and he was in a hurry,’ she said.
The court heard that the woman did not initially report the matter to the police because she was afraid of what might happen to her.
In a message to a friend, the court heard she wrote: ‘I’m scared to report this, he’ll have money to destroy me and the last thing I need is my life in the public eye.’
The woman accusing Hayne was like ‘absolute crap’ when the footy star’s taxi driver knocked on the door of her home on the night of the alleged attack, a court heard.
The crown said this was strong evidence because at the time of the alleged incident, the woman said she was not sure what had happened.
Mr Sfinas said the woman was not sure she had been digitally penetrated.
‘It was at a time when he didn’t want to go to the police, it significantly informs his authenticity,’ he said.
‘You might think these actions are not consistent with someone preparing to lie, embellish, exaggerate or flirt.’
The court heard that the taxi was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’.
Mr Sfinas read to the court some of the woman’s previously recorded evidence at the trial.
When asked how she felt after the taxi driver knocked, the woman said ‘like absolute crap’.
‘I felt like it was obvious what he wanted, I felt sad and stupid for flirting with him at the start,’ she said.
‘There was no way in hell I was going to touch him … I was angry, I was hurt, I was sad, I thought in my mind that one day, maybe something will happen when I work out. he just wanted (sex) I felt like crap.’
The closing addresses will continue before Judge Graham Turnbull on Friday.
