Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard arrives alongside his wife Rebekah Asselstine, for his sex assault trial at the Toronto courthouse on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 in Toronto. Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard is expected to seek bail at a court hearing today, weeks after beginning his sentence for a sexual assault conviction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
TORONTO – A justice with Ontario’s Appeal Court has reserved her decision on whether Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard should get bail as he tries to appeal his sexual assault conviction at the country’s top court.
Justice Jill Copeland heard arguments at a bail hearing for Hoggard this morning, weeks after the Hedley frontman began serving his sentence.
Hoggard was found guilty in June 2022 of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman and later sentenced to five years behind bars.
He was released on bail hours later pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
A three-judge panel with that court ultimately upheld Hoggard’s conviction last month, and he surrendered into custody.
Hoggard then filed an application seeking leave to appeal his case to the Supreme Court of Canada last week.
His notice of application for leave to appeal argues the three-judge panel erred in its decision and says there are questions of “national and public importance” at play in the case.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
