Lazarus had spent 11 months in jail over the rape behind a Sydney nightclub but was released on Friday afternoon after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal granted him bail with a $50,000 surety ahead of a final judgment in the coming weeks.

Appearing from jail via audio visual link, the 23-year-old broke down as the Chief Judge at Common Law, Justice Clifton Hoeben delivered the news following a 90-minute hearing.

"The court is in a position to say that it's satisfied at this stage that ground two [of the appeal] has been made out," Justice Hoeben said.

"That would entitle the applicant to a new trial."

He indicated that the court would hand down the reasons for its decision in the coming weeks, at which point it would also make a finding on Lazarus' first ground of appeal.

It is possible that, if this ground is upheld, the court will acquit Lazarus completely, meaning a retrial is not required.

Lazarus was convicted by a jury in February last year over the sexual assault of an 18-year-old woman in an alleyway behind the Soho Nightclub on Victoria Street in Potts Point - a club owned by his family.

Police alleged that, on the night in question, in May 2013, Lazarus approached his victim on the dance floor introducing himself as a part owner of the venue.

He then allegedly offered to introduce her to the DJ before saying instead they would go into a VIP area.

But he then allegedly took the woman to the laneway where he allegedly raped her before demanding she put her name in his phone.

A string of prominent people, including Waverley mayor Sally Betts, the honorary secretary of the Honorary Consulate-General of Greece in Brisbane, Tsambico K Athanasas and South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league club chairman Nick Pappas had provided references for Lazarus, unanimously declaring their shock at his conviction and vouching for his good character.

The court upheld Lazarus' argument, made by Tim Game, SC, that District Court Judge Sarah Huggett misdirected the jury before they retired to consider their verdict on the issue of whether Lazarus believed the woman had consented to sex or not.

Judge Huggett had told the jury that it needed to decide whether there were reasonable grounds to believe that the woman had consented to having sex with Lazarus.

This direction was inconsistent with the law, Mr Game said.

Instead, the jury should have been told that they needed to decide whether the accused in fact had a "reasonable belief" at the time of the incident that the young woman had consented to sex.

The three-judge appeal panel of Justice Hoeben, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton and Justice Michael Adams upheld the decision.

Members of the Lazarus family burst into tears.