Thread by @judyatrinh

Jacob Hoggard arrives w/ his wife for the start of his trial. The lead singer of Hedley is accused of sexual assault involving a woman and a teenager in incidents from 2016. Hoggard has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection begins this morning. Photo h/t to @AllieElwell @CBCNews

Hoggard was arrested and charged in 2018. There have been several trial delays because COVID. The trial was supposed to start Jan 2021.

Jacob Hoggard officially arraigned. Pleads NOT GUILTY to 3 offences involving a woman & a teen in 2016.
Count 1: sexual interference minor under 16 (this is touching)
Count 2: sexual assault causing bodily harm (teen)
Count 3: sexual assault causing bodily harm (woman)

Judge is telling potential jurors to not search for any information about this case outside of what they get in court or risk causing a mistrial.
How much they know about Hoggard case could rule them out for jury duty. In 2018 this was the biggest #MeToo case in Canada.

Here is how the jury selection works for criminal trials in case you're wondering. Each potential juror has a number. That number is put in a drum at the front of the room. Potential jurors have to fill out a questionnaire about eligibility - ie. Cdn citizen, understand English

Some reasons that could exclude people from jury, ie.. if they know the accused (Jacob Hoggard), any of the complainants, the crown or defense and judge. Or relation to other witnesses

The trial is expected to last until June 3rd. Opening statements will begin once jury selection is done.

Judge says she will ask potential jurors about the publicity of the case and how much they know in order to select a jury that will be fair and unbiased.
This was a high profile case, so this could disqualify quite a few people.

As names are drawn, potential jurors are called up in batches of 20 . They're only identified by their numbers and job description. Crown and defense will be given opportunity to ask questions, assess eligibility, potential bias before Judge decides if the should be on jury.

Watching jury selection right now. We need 12 jurors. Right now 6 men and 1 woman selected. Court is on lunch break.

Jury selection is complete in the trial of Jacob Hoggard. 10 men, 4 women. Two are alternates. Opening statements begin tomorrow. The first complainant is also expected to testify tomorrow.