In Haileybury court in northern Ontario, Canadian artist Jacob Hoggard was acquitted of rape following his second trial for sexual assault relating to an encounter he had with the complainant at Kirkland Lake in 2016.
It took the jury only five hours to reach a unanimous verdict Friday evening after hearing the judge’s instructions in the morning.
Standing between his two lawyers, the rock star, dressed in a black suit without a tie, did not hesitate to show his relief at hearing the president of the jury pronounce his verdict.
He ran his hand over his face several times while one of his lawyers patted him on the back in congratulations.
Open in full screen mode
The 27-year-old plaintiff, who cannot be identified due to a court order, answers questions from prosecutor Peter Keen on the second day of singer Jacob Hoggard’s trial (bottom right next to one of his lawyers) .
Photo : Radio-Canada / Alexandra Newbould
His wife in the courtroom covered her face with her hands before murmuring a thank you. Jacob Hoggard then turned to her, his lips trembling.
The singer then turned towards the jury, crying silently while the magistrate thanked the jury for their work and self-sacrifice.
The singer of the late group Hedley had pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault relating to the meeting he had with the complainant after a concert in Kirkland Lake in June 2016.
The complainant, whose identity is protected by order, was 19 years old at the time of the alleged facts.
Defense position
The defense maintained that the 40-year-old artist was innocent and that he had had a one-night stand with the woman, while the Crown assured that the relationship was not at all consensual.
Lawyer Megan Savard compared the plaintiff to a young disenchanted groupie who had fallen in love with her client, because she adored the singer and his group at the time.
The complainant admitted that she was a clean girl, except that night during the campfire party after the concert.
She had thus admitted that she had drank more than usual, that she had had fun with strangers and took risks such as jumping on a pyre.
Open in full screen mode
Defense lawyer Megan Savard cross-examines for a third consecutive day the complainant, who accuses her client Jacob Hoggard of raping her in 2016 after a concert in Kirkland Lake in northern Ontario. Ontario.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Alexandra Newbould
Me Savard claimed that the young woman and her client had flirted together around a fire before he invited her to his motel room on the night of June 25, 2016.
The lawyer suggested that the woman knew very well that she was going to his room to have sex and not to chat and play the guitar.
However, according to her, time was running out, because the singer was leaving Kirkland Lake in the morning and the complainant did not have much time left to get to know him better.
For the defense, the complainant invented a story of rape, because she had acted out of distress and frustration.
Open in full screen mode
Defense lawyer Megan Savard questions her client in the witness box as Justice Robin Tremblay of the Ontario Superior Court looks on at the Haileybury court in the north of the province.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Alexandra Newbould
The woman was further disappointed that Jacob Hoggard had not given her “VIP” tickets to see him again and that she was seeking support from those close to her because she had cheated on her boyfriend with the star.
Mr. Savard had noted in the woman’s testimony numerous memory lapses and long silences which betrayed her thoughts.
The lawyer said that the complainant was confused, because she remained perplexed by the singer’s preferences in bed, while in Canada we do not punish individuals who have unusual sexual inclinations.
According to her, the woman, now 27 years old, may have felt ashamed after her romance which she later regretted.
The defense had finally succeeded in getting the complainant to admit that she had indeed violated the court order not to communicate to others under any circumstances the information she had given in her testimony or to do research on the Internet.
Open in full screen mode
Prosecutor Peter Keen cross-examines Jacob Hoggard on the sixth day of the trial, Tuesday October 1, 2024.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Alexandra Newbould
Jacob Hoggard was sentenced in the fall of 2022 to five years in prison for sexual assault causing injury against an Ottawa resident in November 2016 in Toronto.
However, he was acquitted of a similar charge against a teenager in Mississauga, this time in September 2016. He underwent the same trial in the spring of 2022 in the metropolis.
He appealed the guilty verdict, but to no avail. The Crown did not contest the acquittal.
Jacob Hoggard subsequently asked, without success, the Ontario Court of Appeal to keep him free on bail, while he was heard or not before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Leaving court, Crown prosecutor Peter Keen declined to comment on the verdict, but thanked the jurors for their work.
The singer’s lawyers did not address journalists as they left the court. Jacob Hoggard then returned to prison.
