Bail denied as man attempts 4th appeal in ‘sexsomnia’ case
BROCKVILLE A man twice convicted of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman in 2011, despite his “sexsomnia” defence, will remain in jail until the Ontario Court of Appeal decides whether to hear his application for a fourth appeal.
A Toronto judge rejected Ryan Hartman’s application to be free on bail while the appeals court decides if it will hear his appeal, the provincial Witness Assistance Program told victim Bekah D’Aoust in an email this week.
Hartman assaulted the sleeping D’Aoust at an Oxford Mills house party nine years ago, but he has been fighting his conviction ever since, launching three unsuccessful appeals.
In launching his fourth appeal this month, Hartman asked to be given bail from the one-year sentence he is serving for the assault. But the judge rejected the bail application, suggesting he regards it as unlikely the appeals court would agree to hear Hartman’s appeal.
The rejection of bail means Hartman will remain in jail until the court decides whether it will hear the appeal. According to the email to D’Aoust, which she shared online, the court is unlikely to hear Hartman’s application until May. If it decides to hear the appeal, Hartman then would be granted bail.
Hartman originally proclaimed his innocence but was convicted of the assault in May 2012 and sentenced to 14 months. He appealed, but lost. Hartman appealed again, conceding that the assault occurred but using the so-called “sexsomnia” defence, claiming he was asleep at the time.
The court ordered a new trial based on the sexsomnia arguments but Justice Kimberley Moore upheld the original conviction and sentenced him to one year in jail.
Hartman appealed a third time, claiming the courts had taken too much time to convict him and therefore violated his charter rights. But in early January, the appeal was dismissed by Superior Court Justice Kenneth Pedlar, who ruled the main causes of the delay were due to the defence, not the Crown.