Hoggard sexual assault trial: Cross-examination of complainant continues [Video]

A defence lawyer for Jacob Hoggard accused the complainant at his sexual assault trial of trying to disguise that she was hoping to have sex with the musician, a suggestion the woman repeatedly pushed back against during emotional testimony on Thursday.

Cross-examination of the complainant, who cannot be identified, involved Hoggard’s defence pressing the woman on how much she may have flirted with the singer, her intentions that night and differences in her testimony and the statement she gave to police.

Hoggard, the frontman for the band Hedley, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault at the trial taking place in the northeastern Ontario community of Haileybury.

The complainant has alleged Hoggard raped, hit, choked and urinated on her in his hotel room after she attended his band’s concert and an after-party in Kirkland Lake, Ont., eight years ago. The defence and Crown agree that a sexual encounter took place, but prosecutors are seeking to prove it was …