Hedley singer’s sexual assault trial has been postponed

The lead singer of the popular Canadian band, Jacob Hoggard, has been charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and sexual interference to a 16-year-old woman.

The two alleged victims were a woman and a minor. The alleged facts would have happened in 2016 in the Toronto area.

The accused was not guilty. He chose a jury trial rather than just a judge.

The trials were originally scheduled to begin in January 2021, but were repeatedly delayed due to health restrictions surrounding jury trials during the pandemic.

The 37-year-old musician, who has lived in Vancouver since being released on bail in 2018, returned to Toronto for the occasion.

He was wearing a black suit, white shirt and black tie.

The selection of jurors for his trial, which will begin Monday morning in court in Toronto, has been postponed until Wednesday after technical and scheduling problems.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Gillian Roberts said it was pointless to start voting on Monday, because other jury trials are ahead of her (you can only pick one jury at the same time in the downtown courthouse, note of the Editor).

The two parties took advantage of the afternoon to present motions before the trial as the subject of the publication bans they submitted to the judge but it should be disputed.

The magistrate also specified the sanitary conditions surrounding the conduct of the trial in a hybrid format, i.e. in a face -to -face and virtual manner.

Everyone in the courtroom needs to be vaccinated, including members of the public, court workers, the judge, lawyers and detectives. It will be the same with the jurors to be selected.

An overflow room was also set up to accommodate members of the public who could not be vaccinated due to conscientious objection or medical reasons. However, masks and physical distancing are mandatory.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.