A Brockville judge has denied the third appeal made by the man twice convicted of sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman almost a decade ago.
In January 2019, Ryan Hartman appealed his second sexual assault conviction, claiming that he was not granted his charter right to a speedy trial, something that is often referred to as a Jordan application.
On Tuesday, Justice Kenneth Pedlar ruled that whatever delays there were in Hartman’s case — when he argued he sexually assaulted Bekah D’Aoust at a house party in 2011 due to a rare condition called sexsomnia — were warranted.
Hartman was first convicted of sexually assaulting D’Aoust, who recently had the publication ban on her name lifted, in 2012.
He appealed that decision and failed, but then appealed it once more, admitting to sexually assaulting D’Aoust but only because he suffered from a condition that made him have sex while he was sleeping.
During this second trial, this defence was not accepted and he was convicted once again. He quickly appealed that second conviction with a Jordan application, arguing that there were too many delays during the second trial.
On Tuesday, Pedlar decided that those delays were warranted, and sentenced him to one year in prison.
“I find that the extraordinary delays were primarily caused by the defence and beyond control of the crown,” Pedlar said in his ruling.
D’Aoust, who has been vocal throughout the last year during the appeals, says she feels relieved following the judge’s decision.
“Just complete and utter relief, and I’ve felt that before, I’ve felt complete and utter relief because I thought it was over. But now, it really is over for me,” D’Aoust said outside the Brockville courthouse on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, Crown counsel Claudette Breault told Global News there is a possibility that Hartman could appeal this most recent decision.
Hartman is also facing charges for the alleged historic sexual assaults of two underage victims, who were 14 and 15 years old at the time of the alleged offences.
While out on bail, Hartman was charged with two historical sexual assaults involving minors. https://t.co/ymKW4Bx2Dr
— Kraig Krause (@KrauseKraig) January 7, 2020
More to come.
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