Marius Borg Høiby is headed back to court, and this time the stakes cut both ways. When Norway’s Borgarting Court of Appeal takes up his case next February, Queen Mette-Marit’s eldest son could walk out cleared of the most serious charges against him. He could also walk out facing a tougher sentence than the one he received this summer.
© Getty ImagesThat’s the picture painted by journalist Heine Jørgensen of the Norwegian magazine Se og Hør, whose legal analysis lays out just how unpredictable this next round could be. The appeal won’t simply be a second look at the file from the first trial; instead, the case will start over again, with the prosecution and the defense making their arguments, and every piece of evidence weighed anew.
The people making the decisions will change too. In the Oslo District Court, the verdict rested with one professional judge and two lay judges. At the appellate level, Borg's fate will be in the hands of seven people: two professional judges and five lay judges, giving ordinary citizens a clear majority.
© Patrick van KatwijkA guilty verdict will require at least five of the seven votes, and at least one of these votes must come from a professional judge.
The first trial ended in June, when the Oslo District Court sentenced Borg to four years in prison after finding him guilty of two counts of rape, abuse in a close relationship and assault against his ex-girlfriend Nora Haukland. He was also found guilty of assaults and abuse against other women and of violating restraining orders. It's a case that stunned Norway and destroyed Borg's public image.
Now both sides are challenging the ruling. Borg, who has since overhauled his legal team, is seeking acquittal on the rape convictions and on the abuse of Haukland, with his defense arguing that new evidence and testimony weren’t properly weighed the first time around.
Prosecutors are pushing in the opposite direction. They’ve appealed that Borg's sentence is too lenient, arguing that four years doesn’t do justice to the trauma suffered by the victims. They’ll be asking for a significantly longer term.
© Getty ImagesRegardless of what happens, Borg will likely serve some time in prison
Even in the best-case scenario for the defense, time served in prison is unlikely to go away. As Se og Hør’s analysis suggests, Borg didn’t appeal a series of lesser convictions, which are now final: serious drug offenses, reckless driving, death threats, violations of restraining orders and physical assault against another woman. His own defense team has acknowledged publicly that those offenses alone carry roughly a year and a half behind bars.
For now, after a stretch in custody, Høiby is living under house arrest at the royal estate Skaugum. The appeal is scheduled to begin on February 9, 2027, with a final verdict expected in March.
© Pool
