Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard pleads not guilty at Ontario sexual assault trial

Entertainment

Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in a northeastern Ontario court as his trial gets underway.

Hoggard is facing a charge for incident alleged to have happened on June 25, 2016

A sketch of a courtroom scene.
Jacob Hoggard, far right, appears beside his defence lawyers at the start of his sexual assault trial in the Haileybury courthouse in Temiskaming Shores, Ont., on Monday. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC)

Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in a northeastern Ontario court as his trial gets underway.

The former Hedley frontman, dressed in a dark suit, stood up to enter his plea on Monday.

Eight women and four men have been selected to serve as jurors for the trial in Temiskaming Shores, Ont., a community roughly 150 kilometres northeast of Sudbury. Two women were also selected as alternate jurors.

Hoggard is facing one charge of sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident in June 2016 in the nearby town of Kirkland Lake. 

He elected at the end of last year to be tried in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by a jury.

The Crown is expected to begin presenting its case on Tuesday.

With files from Thomas Daigle

Source

Posted in CBC