Jury deliberations in Hoggard sex assault trial enter fourth day
Published June 3, 2022 at 6:57 am
Jurors are to continue deliberating for a fourth day in the sexual assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard, the lead singer for the band Hedley.
On Thursday, the jury told the court it could not reach a unanimous agreement on “some” counts, but was instructed to continue deliberating and went on to ask questions and review one witness’s testimony.
Hoggard, who is 37, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one of sexual interference, a charge that refers to the sexual touching of someone under 16.
The Crown alleges Hoggard violently and repeatedly raped a teenage fan and a young Ottawa woman in separate incidents in the fall of 2016.
It further alleges he groped the teen after a Hedley show in April 2016, when she was 15.
The defence argues the groping did not happen, and both sexual encounters were consensual.