Twelve jurors will begin deliberating the guilt of NSW State of Origin representative Jack de Belin and his friend Callan Sinclair when the pair's weeks-long rape trial concludes.
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The Wollongong District Court jury will receive further legal directions on Thursday morning from Judge Andrew Haesler before being asked to retire to consider their verdicts.
The St George Illawarra forward, 29, and his friend, Callan Sinclair, 23, have pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault, saying the early-morning encounter with a woman in December 2018 was consensual.
The trial, which began on November 3, has heard allegations the woman entered a North Wollongong unit with the men to use the toilet and was assaulted after leaving a bedroom ensuite.
The then-19-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury the men ignored her protests and raped her as she teared up and just "let it happen".
Let me make this point clear ... with sensitivity, firmness and respect: consent given at the relevant time but later regretted is still consent.
- Craig Smith SC
Crown prosecutor David Scully said the men hadn't planned to rape before arriving at the unit but a "fundamental disconnect" had occurred between the complainant's intentions and what the men wanted to do with the woman
"They wanted to have a threesome with her. But the difficulty is - and this is where the fundamental disconnect arises - neither of the accused bothered to tell the complainant that they wanted to go back to the unit, much less to go back to the unit to have sex with her," Mr Scully said in his closing address.
The men, who both chose to testify, said the woman had been consenting - uttering "yes" and appearing to enjoy the threesome.
De Belin, who was charged shortly after the sexual encounter on December 9, 2018, said he'd proposed a threesome with the woman on a nightclub dancefloor after watching her flirt with Sinclair.
When she mentioned his girlfriend, he said he could keep a secret if the 19-year-old could, the jury heard.
"He conducted himself in a way that was morally wrong. He knows that. He cheated on his partner. He knows that. He should have been more respectful. He knows that," de Belin's barrister, David Campbell SC, said in closing.
"While that which happened is not something to be praised, it certainly does not ... involve any criminal conduct on the part of either Mr de Belin or Mr Sinclair."
Sinclair's lawyer told the jury they could easily conclude the men hadn't treated the teenager "as attentively as they should have".
"Let me make this point clear ... with sensitivity, firmness and respect: consent given at the relevant time but later regretted is still consent," Craig Smith SC said in his final address.
The trial ran beyond its three-week estimate and will not sit Friday to allow a juror to attend an appointment.
Should no verdict be reached by Thursday afternoon, jurors will continue deliberations on Monday.
"There is no magic time a juror takes to reach a verdict ... you will have as long as you need," Judge Haesler told the jury on Wednesday.
Australian Associated Press
