Jurors now considering two rape charges against Jarryd Hayne have been warned the former NRL star doesn't need to prove the woman consented to have sex with him.
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The Sydney jury retired at 12.39pm on Wednesday - the eighth day of the retrial into claims the former footballer raped a woman in September 2018.
Hayne, 33, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm, saying the incident was consensual.
The jurors were warned on Wednesday morning that despite Hayne giving evidence, the onus wasn't on him to prove what happened.
"The accused does not have to prove that the complainant consented," District Court Judge Helen Syme said.
"It is for the Crown to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she did not."
The Crown argues the former State of Origin player felt entitled to sex when he went to the then-26-year-old woman's Newcastle home, having left his friends drinking at a bucks party and also missing watching his old teammates in the NRL grand final that evening.
The woman testified Hayne was "rough, forceful and inconsiderate," despite her protests of "no" and "no Jarryd," and pushed her face into the pillow before ripping her jeans off.
Hayne testified that the woman had become "filthy" after finding out a taxi was waiting for him outside her home and knew she did not want sex.
But he wanted to "please her" and the pair kissed before he commenced consensual oral and digital sex, he said.
"She said she didn't want to have sex. We didn't have sex," Hayne said.
He rejected the suggestion the woman was retreating up the bed to get away from him, saying she helped him remove her pants.
Hayne's lawyer likened the woman's "fairytale attraction" to the famous footballer to a "lovesickness," seen in the sexually charged messages she sent to him beforehand, including nude photographs.
About a year prior the woman contacted him on Instagram, saying "you're absolutely gorgeous".
"The more attracted you are to someone, the more likely you are to agree to sexual activity even after a disappointing event," Richard Pontello SC said.
He also questioned whether someone would send a text message saying "I thought you would have at least stayed," to the person who sexually assaulted them not long before.
The alleged assault lasted for about 30 seconds before the woman started bleeding from her genitals.
The Crown argues Hayne had no reasonable grounds for believing the woman would have consented to any sexual activity that evening.
But Mr Pontello argued his client was content to "take it or leave it" and fully respected the woman's wishes to not have sex after she found out about the taxi.
Australian Associated Press
