Jarryd Hayne alleged rape case reaches court after mediation failure

Rugby league player Jarryd Hayne is set to face trial over rape allegation. Photo / Jason Oxenham

NRL star Jarryd Hayne is set to face a five-day rape trial in front of a California jury in January 2020, it was decided at a hearing today.

The lawyer for Hayne's accuser, a woman known only as JV, said the young woman was still in therapy after the alleged attack in December 2015, while Hayne was playing for San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.

Civil rights lawyer Micha Star Liberty said it was still "day-by-day" for her client as she "processes her experiences" through therapy in the face of "overwhelming" attention on the case.

A pre-trial hearing was set for January 7, 2020, at a San Jose court, with a trial set to start on January 27, but lawyers for both parties still have the chance to reach an agreement through mediation.

"We're always open to further negotiation and any sort of resolution but it has to make sense," said Ms Liberty.

Ms V is seeking monetary damages of a sum that has not been finalised yet.

The case management hearing at 2pm Wednesday local time (7am Thursday AEST) came days after it emerged that mediation talks had failed.

Judge Lucy Koh laid out the deadlines and rules for the trial of the Parramatta Eels player, including the date. Hayne is unlikely to go to the United States for the trial.

Hayne and three friends — Bryce Poisel and Tim Dengate and former New Zealand rugby league player Krisnan Inu — have been named as "foreign nationals" who would give evidence for the civil lawsuit, possibly in Australia.

Hayne's lawyer Mark Baute said it could take up to six months to get access to several witnesses in Australia.

The female accuser, known only as JV, alleges Hayne raped her at his San Jose apartment in the early hours of December 21, 2015, during his time playing for the San Francisco 49ers.

The rugby league player "unequivocally" and "vehemently" denies the allegation, his lawyer Ramy Qutami said last year.

Ms V says she was a virgin when she met the Australian at a San Jose dive bar where he was drinking with some of his teammates. She claims she was blackout drunk when she went home in an Uber with Hayne to his apartment, where she says the alleged incident took place.

The woman, then in her mid-20s, alleges Hayne flipped her over and said "no kissing", and she felt a sharp pain in her vagina. When she woke there the next morning, she claims the bedsheets were soaked in her blood.

Hayne, 30, rejected the woman's claims and said she "willingly engaged in sexual interaction that did not include sexual intercourse".

Ms V said she did not immediately report the alleged crime because she was afraid she would not be believed. When she did, San Jose Police Department investigated but did not press charges because of an apparent lack of evidence. She then filed a civil suit in December.

Lawyers wrote to the court after the unsuccessful mediation talks on May 14 that "the parties may conduct a second attempt at mediation after some discovery has been conducted."

Evidence seized by police during the 2016 investigation will be tested further, at the request of lawyers from both sides.

Ms V is represented by veteran lawyer John Clune, and Ms Liberty.

Mr Clune, from Boulder, Colorado, represented a woman who accused Los Angeles Lakes star Kobe Bryant of rape in 2003. The criminal case was dropped and the parties settled out of court.

Hayne's lawyer Mr Baute successfully defended NBA star Derrick Rose in a rape trial.