Hoggard takes stand in sex assault trial, denies that he raped complainant

Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard took the stand in his sexual assault trial on Tuesday, denying that he raped his accuser and painting a dramatically different picture of their encounter eight years ago.

Wearing a dark suit, Hoggard told a jury that he and the complainant in the case had a consensual one-night stand in Kirkland Lake, Ont., after his then-band Hedley performed a show.

As defence lawyer Megan Savard took him through his recollections of the encounter, she asked whether it had been consensual.

“Of course it was,” he said.

She asked what about the sex allows Hoggard to now say so confidently that it was consensual.

“Well, she was as into it as I was,” he said, adding that the complainant was positioned on top of him for “quite a bit” of the session.

“I remember her moaning and saying yes and a lot of kissing while she was on top of me.”

The complainant, during four days of emotional testimony last week, had told a completely different story.

The Crown and defence agree that a sexual encounter between the two happened in Hoggard’s hotel room following a bonfire the band hosted nearby after their concert.

Prosecutors are seeking to prove the encounter was not consensual. The complainant, who repeatedly said she did not consent to the sex, was the Crown’s only witness.

The woman, who was 19 years old at the time and whose name is protected by a publication ban, denied every suggestion during Savard’s cross-examination that she wanted to have sex with Hoggard or that they had flirted beforehand.

On Tuesday, Savard showed the court a tour itinerary and had Hoggard mark the location of the bonfire, which he said he built, on a printed aerial photo of the hotel.

He said he arrived to build the fire with another band member before others arrived, contradicting the complainant’s testimony that they were in a van together headed to the party.

Hoggard said he first noticed the complainant sitting cross-legged by the fire, found her attractive and wanted to talk to her.

“At some point I had my hand on her leg, and I remember just laughing with her and joking around and kind of just flirting,” he said.

“She seemed to be having a great time.”

He said they exchanged phone numbers, and at one point, he texted her asking if she wanted to spend the night with him. Later, he said, they kissed and held hands. She wore his jacket, he said.

Savard asked if he mentioned they would play music in his room or have “casual conversation,” words the complainant used in her testimony to characterize his invitation to stay. He said no.

When they got into his hotel room, Hoggard said he played some songs on his guitar. His accuser had strongly denied that this could have happened.

He said they kissed before helping each other undress and then had sex. He denied that the woman struggled, that he hit or choked her, that he pinned her down, that she ever said she was uncomfortable and that he called her a “dirty little pig” as she had described in court.

The complainant’s testimony had been that after she eventually went into the shower, Hoggard joined her there and asked if he could urinate on her. When she said no, he did it anyway, she testified.

In court on Tuesday, Hoggard offered a conflicting account. He said that during consensual oral sex in the bathtub, he asked her to urinate on his face, and she did so.

“I appreciate this is potentially an embarrassing topic for you,” Savard said. Hoggard agreed and said it was “very uncommon” for a woman to urinate on him. He has a “very, very clear memory of that moment,” he testified.

Court also heard contradictory descriptions of a conversation Hoggard and the complainant had that night.

Hoggard denied telling her, as the complainant testified, that she shouldn’t be concerned about sexually transmitted diseases because he “picks them young,” or that she shouldn’t worry about his girlfriend at the time finding out about it.

By Hoggard’s account, they discussed her boyfriend, music and their careers. “I remember talking about how hard the job is, even on a personal level, how hard it can be for your self-confidence,” he said. “She was really easy to talk to.”

Hoggard also testified that he and his now-wife were broken up at the time. Savard showed the jury an Instagram post from just before the concert and an email his now-wife sent him a few days after, which both appeared to corroborate the breakup.

Hoggard told court he and his now-wife eventually got engaged in January 2018, confirming their news leaked out to the public at the time. He said he began working as a carpenter after Hedley broke up that year and is now living “hand to mouth.”

Crown prosecutor Peter Keen began cross-examining Hoggard on Tuesday afternoon.

Under questioning from his defence lawyer earlier, Hoggard had said that he didn’t remember how he and the complainant got from kissing to having sex. He agreed with Keen that this was a “gap” in his memory.

Hoggard had also said earlier on Tuesday that he asked the complainant if she was OK at intervals during their encounter. He said during cross-examination that this was his usual practice when having sex.

“I’m gonna suggest to you that the reason you had to ask her if she was OK at intervals is because it wasn’t clear to you that she was OK,” said Keen.

“I disagree with that,” Hoggard said.

Savard had said in her opening statement on Tuesday morning that she expects to call two more witnesses after Hoggard — both members of the crew who worked the Hedley concert that night.

Hoggard’s cross-examination is set to resume on Wednesday morning.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.

Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press