The complainants cannot be identified due to a publication ban, nor can several witnesses. Hoggard was arrested and charged in 2018 for alleged incidents involving a woman and a teenager that police have said took place in the Toronto area in 2016. It is now scheduled to run until early June. He chose to be tried by a jury rather than a judge alone, and was initially scheduled to stand trial in January 2021.īut public health measures meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 prompted the courts to put new jury trials on hold for months at a time during the pandemic, and the trial was pushed back on several occasions. Hoggard pleaded not guilty to sexual assault causing bodily harm and sexual interference during a two-day preliminary hearing in the summer of 2019. Some fans had previously attended hearings early in the case in 2018, even when Hoggard himself was not present. One person who observed Monday's proceedings later held up a sign outside the courtroom expressing support for Hoggard and Hedley, the band he fronted. Jury selection is expected to begin Wednesday. Hoggard, dressed in a dark suit, was in a downtown Toronto courtroom Monday as a judge heard a few procedural matters in the case. TORONTO - The sex assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard is getting underway after multiple delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.