Toronto –
Jurors of the sexual assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard reviewed more witnesses on Saturday as deliberations continued for a fifth day.
The jury has twice told the court that it cannot reach a unanimous verdict on “some” of the charges in the case, but the judge has asked them to keep trying.
On Friday evening, jurors asked the court to reproduce Hoggard’s testimony and the second complainant about his meeting on November 22, 2016.
They continued to hear him on Saturday and also asked to hear part of the testimony of the first complainant. They are expected to continue listening to this recording on Sunday.
Hedgard, the leader of the Hedley gang, 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 contact of a person under the age of 16.
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Prosecutors allege that Hoggard violently and repeatedly raped a teenage fan and a young Ottawa woman in the fall of 2016, and that he palpated the teenager after a show by Hedley in the spring of 2016, when he was 15 years old.
The defense argues that Hoggard never sexually touched the teenager before he turned 16 and that his sexual encounters with the two complainants were consensual.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 4, 2022.