Defence attorneys advised a Toronto jury Friday that Jacob Hoggard might have been cavalier and disrespectful in the direction of girls, however the Canadian musician shouldn't be a “sadistic serial rapist.”
In her closing arguments, defence lawyer Megan Savard painted her consumer as an insecure, attention-starved rock star who routinely succumbed to the temptation and simple validation of one-night stands over greater than a decade of touring with the band Hedley, even when in a relationship.
However Hoggard didn't rape the 2 complainants within the case, Savard argued in her last pitch to the jury. “He didn't take delight of their struggles, he's not a monster, he's a flawed human being,” she stated.
“His fame and energy gave him the capability to have interaction in hurtful conduct and two girls had been damage by his callous strategy to their sexual relationships,” she stated.
“However Mr. Hoggard shouldn't be on trial for breaking hearts or disrespecting girls, he's not on trial for being cavalier with their emotions. He has already admitted and paid the worth for that.”
Savard argued the complainants made up the rape allegations as a result of they had been “upset and embarrassed by the best way Mr. Hoggard dismissed them” and the stigma of admitting they regretted a consensual encounter was “too painful.”
She additional instructed the complainants “wanted a sympathetic story to inform that will permit them to avoid wasting face” with their shut family and friends, and whereas they by no means initially deliberate to contact police, by 2018, the stress to take action started to mount.
“They'd lived with their lies for thus lengthy they needed to observe by way of,” she stated.
Hoggard, 37, has pleaded not responsible to 2 counts of sexual assault inflicting bodily hurt and considered one of sexual interference, a cost that refers back to the sexual touching of somebody underneath 16.
The Crown alleges Hoggard violently and repeatedly raped a 16-year-old fan and a younger lady in separate incidents within the fall of 2016.
Each girls testified they cried and stated no all through the encounters, which came about in Toronto-area resorts.
The youthful complainant, a longtime Hedley fan who first met Hoggard at age 12, testified he raped her vaginally and orally and tried to take action anally on Sept. 30, 2016. She stated she resisted bodily however Hoggard pinned her down.
The second complainant, an Ottawa lady, testified she agreed to fulfill Hoggard in Toronto to have intercourse on Nov. 22, 2016. However as a substitute of getting consensual intercourse, she was raped anally, vaginally and orally, and at one level dragged by the legs into the toilet, she advised the court docket.
Each alleged Hoggard spit of their mouths, slapped them and known as them derogatory names. In addition they stated he restricted their respiratory: the primary complainant alleged he additionally pushed her face into the pillows, and the second complainant stated he choked her so arduous she feared for her life.
The Ottawa lady additionally alleged Hoggard requested her to urinate on him, which she refused to do
It is also alleged Hoggard groped the youthful complainant backstage after a Hedley live performance in Toronto in April 2016, when she was nonetheless 15.
Hoggard testified earlier this week that he had consensual, “passionate” intercourse with every of the complainants in Toronto-area resorts.
He acknowledged among the acts the ladies described - together with spitting, slapping and calling them derogatory names - might have occurred as a result of they had been a part of his sexual repertoire.
The Crown is anticipated to make its last submissions to the jury this afternoon, and deliberations might start as early as Tuesday.
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