The Crown and Jacob Hoggard’s defense deployed all means on Friday to convince the jury one last time of the singer’s guilt or innocence. Consent is central to litigation.
The 37-year-old musician was charged with inappropriate sexual touching of a minor and sexual assault causing harm to both a teenage girl and an adult in the Toronto area in 2016.
Defense attorney Megan Savard was the first to appear before the jury. Because he presented evidence by calling two witnesses, he lost the advantage of concluding final arguments (in a criminal trial, the Crown always presents its final arguments first, unless the defense calls of witnesses, Editor’s note).
Me Savard first makes sure that the relationship between the two women is very consensual. Jacob Hoggard did not violate [ces deux femmes] and he did not touch her inappropriately [l’adolescente]he said at the beginning.
Under the law, my client is still innocent and the Crown has failed to prove his client’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.he added.
He asks the jury to remain objective and carefully weigh all the evidence in this case and not to speculate or speculate. Take all suspicion out of your headhe says.
The lawyer contends that the two complainants are unreliable and their testimonies are inconsistent, unreasonable and full of inaccuracies in fact. Their allegations are deceptivehe pointed out.
There was no medical evidence that they were injured and the doctors who examined them in the days after their adventure wrote nothing about it in their file.he says.
Me Savard suggests that they invented or enlarged their genital lacerations and that such injuries can occur for some reason during consensual sex.
He cited the example of menstruation, loss of virginity or condition of the cervix.
The lawyer also wondered about the motive of the two women who filed a complaint after 18 months with the police.
They felt humiliated and rejected of his client, he says, and they acted in retaliation, because the singer didn’t want to know anything about them after their one-night stand.
They devised sophisticated waterless exit plans to get out of their embarrassing situation.he says.
Me Savard recalled that one of the two complainants pretended to have to return to work earlier to leave Jacob Hoggard after their meeting at the hotel.
He added that the aide lied to his client by telling him that he would have stitches on his private part. He also lied by telling her he would contact a lawyerhe says.
The lawyer pointed out that the second plaintiff gave a televised interview to the CBC to denounce the singer in the public plaza.
He also stressed that the fact of having unusual intercourse does not make his client a sadistic man or rapist.
Every defendant in the country must be protected from false allegations and misjudgmentshe continued.
He claims thatit is physically impossible for [son] the client was able to ejaculate the teenager 4 times in an hour and 20 minutesas he said.
The lawyer said both women have good reason to liebecause the young man felt that he had been deceived and because the old man wanted to punish him for neglecting him.
He was hurt in his self -esteem, when he saw that it felt nothing for himhe says.
The defense also noted contradictions on this subject in the deposits of the two complainants to the police, their statements in the preliminary investigation and their testimonies at the trial bar.
The young man told police he was wearing tights that day, as he told the trial he was wearing very tight jeanshe cited as an example.
He also immediately admitted that the singer is a man shallow, in vain at manipulator.
He seeks to satisfy his insecurity in the arms of women for intercourse and lack of love, because he wants to satisfy his needs for self-improvement.he pointed out.
The lawyer added that his client did not hide it and he even made his remorse by agreeing to testify before the jury when he was not obligated by law.
Me Savard recalls that his client thus confessed that he loved to attract the attention of women, that he was not proud to lie to the women he met, but this was the kind of life he had. appreciated for 15 years, when he was at the height of his career.
She made sure that her client had given up this lifestyle, that she had reconciled with her husband after she cheated on him several times (especially with the two complainants, the editor notes) and that they have since had children.
He regrets what he did to all these women and he admits he manipulates them by playing on their feelings.he says.
” We do not judge an individual in Canada simply for being sexually promiscuous or because of bad behavior towards women. “
The lawyer defended the memory of his client who disappeared at the witness stand. If he can no longer remember in detail what happened to the two complainants, it is because no one remembers consensual sex.he continued.
He finally added that the allegations of the two complainants had a negative impact on the life of the singer. Jacob Hoggard lost everything in adventure, his friends, his career and famehe explained.
Me Savard points out that his client returned to his first job as a carpenter, which he trained before achieving success by placing third in a reality TV musical competition.
He is now a husband and father, he has maturedhe says.
So I ask you to acquit him, my client cannot be convicted of being a cavalier, to the heartache of the two plaintiffs.he concludes.
The perfect crown
Contrary to Prosecutor Jill Witkin’s explanation that the modus operandi of the accused proves that the two complainants were raped. I am confident that you will return the guilty verdict at the conclusion of your deliberations.he told the jurors.
He also recalled the main lines of his indictment at the opening of the trial.
Me Witkin acknowledges that the two plaintiffs were young and naive and that they fell in love with Jacob Hoggard, an undisputed rock star at the time in the country.
He pointed out, however, that they had no idea what awaited them when they voluntarily agreed to meet with him at his hotel in September 2016 in Mississauga and in November of the same year in Toronto.
Jacob Hoggard, on the other hand, knew what he would do to them without regard to their consent, their dignity or their health., he continued. He added that you don’t have to be sadistic to be a rapist.
” Jacob Hoggard is a possessive, violent and sensitive sexual opportunist who seeks only to satisfy the cravings of his cravings. “
Everything fits and there is no chance, according to the prosecutor. He recalled that the victims were young women studying, that the alleged actions took place in a hotel room and that they were attracted there by deception.
They both found out he was taking drugshe continued, adding that he sent them videos in which he masturbated.
The prosecutor added that the modus operandi was the same during the attacks with forced kissing at the beginning, the same bed restraint positions, the use of insults and spitting, the use of suffocation, the absence of condoms and, finally , in the body. damage to their private parts.
Me Witkin added that the two women begged the singer to stop, because he was hurting them, but in vain.
He also noticed numerous memory lapses in the singer’s testimony. He assured us that they also found their pleasure there while moaning, but he could not remember the sounds and words they uttered under pleasure.he says.
They were so scared, one called him a monster and the other mad.emphasizes the prosecutor proving that the women felt betrayed, because they put their trust in him.
The prosecutor asks the jury to show common sense and carefully weigh the arguments of the two women, which he describes as solid.
He acknowledges that they may have engaged in questionable behaviors after their attack, such as not leaving the hotel right away or not calling 911 when the accused was in the shower.
He reminded them of the presentation of his first witness on this subject: the DD Lori Haskell, a trauma psychologist.
Rape victims automatically go into survival mode, preventing them from escaping their attacker.he said, quoting the specialist on the first day of the trial.
They feel they are trappedhe added, referring to that such episodes were unpredictable.
Me Witkin explained that the singer didn’t bother to call them back when she was in Toronto or Ottawa, because she knew she was raping them and she didn’t want to see them again, unlike other women she had seen again for on an adventure in every city where his group performed.
According to the Crown, the two complainants had good reason anger and ragebut they never wanted to launch the #MeToo movement again to pay him for his behavior, contrary to what Me Savard says.
Finally, the Crown recalled that they did not know each other and that therefore there was no conspiracy or plot on their part against the defendants and they had no reason to lie, as the defense states.
Source: Radio-Canada
