Jacob Hoggard abandons bid to challenge 2022 conviction before Canada's top court

Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has abandoned his bid to appeal his 2022 sexual assault conviction before Canada's top court.

The Supreme Court of Canada website shows the former Hedley frontman discontinued his application for leave to appeal last Friday.

That's the same day Hoggard, 40, was found not guilty of sexual assault in a separate, unrelated case in northeastern Ontario.

In the 2022 case, a Toronto jury found Hoggard guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman, but not guilty of the same charge and of sexual interference in relation to a teenage fan.

His lawyers appealed the conviction on four grounds, including that the trial judge made an error in admitting expert evidence on the neurobiology of trauma.

In August, the Appeal Court found that while the judge had erred in allowing the testimony of clinical psychologist Lori Haskell, the judge had corrected any potential misuse of that evidence in answering the jury's questions.

There was thus no "substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice" as a result of the error, the appeal panel said in a unanimous ruling. The court did not find any errors related to the other grounds for appeal.

Hoggard started serving his five-year sentence after his appeal was dismissed.

The singer turned to the Supreme Court in early September, and the Appeal Court rejected his request for bail pending the outcome of his application to the Supreme Court.

Allegations of sexual misconduct involving Hoggard first surfaced in early 2018, and he was charged in the Toronto case that July.

He was then charged with sexual assault in an alleged incident in Kirkland Lake, Ont., while the Toronto trial was underway. Jurors acquitted him in that case last week after deliberating for less than six hours.

Hedley went on an indefinite hiatus in 2018 and Hoggard has testified that they broke up that year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.