91原创

Over the Crown鈥檚 objections, Goldstein granted the request from Nygard鈥檚 new lawyers, Megan Savard and Kally Ho. The hearing on multiple counts of sexual assault, originally scheduled for May 14, will now take place on June 25 and 27.聽

鈥淚t has to be clear that this is going to go ahead,鈥� Goldstein said.

Savard and Ho estimate they鈥檝e approached somewhere between 13 and 45 doctors 鈥� either directly or through different organizations 鈥� but many have either declined, said they鈥檙e unavailable, or not responded at all.

鈥淥ne of the reasons the experts declined the brief was their concern about negative publicity arising from the high-profile nature of this case,鈥� says Ho in an affidavit filed with the Superior Court. She said they even explored the option with some doctors of asking the court to impose a publication ban on their identity, to no avail.聽

The man behind Nygard International, once the largest manufacturer of women鈥檚 clothing in 91原创, appears to have deteriorated while incarcerated, based on hundreds of pages of jail health data and largely illegible doctors鈥� notes, which his lawyers want an expert to confirm.

He has lost 30 pounds, is reliant on a wheelchair, spends most of his day in a hospital bed and has had to fashion a makeshift visor for light sensitivity out of paper, napkins and adult diapers, his lawyers say in court filings.

On Tuesday, Crown attorney Neville Golwalla argued it was unnecessary to prolong the case by giving the defence more time to examine Nygard鈥檚 health issues.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 mean to be flippant in my use of language here,鈥� Golwalla said in court, 鈥渂ut Ms. Savard is seeking to pursue, what I would submit, is really to state what鈥檚 obvious to the court already.鈥�

Nygard was convicted by a jury last November of four counts of sexual assault, for attacking four women between the 1980s and 2005 in the top-floor bedroom of his former 91原创 headquarters at 1 Niagara St.

He parted ways in January with his former lawyer, Brian Greenspan, after the latter cited an 鈥渁dversarial relationship鈥� with his now-former client. Nygard then retained Savard, who is especially well-known for representing Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard at his 91原创 sexual assault trial in 2022.聽

Just like at his other virtual court appearances, Nygard appeared from his bed Tuesday at the 91原创 South Detention Centre dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and wearing his makeshift visor.

Savard argued in an adjournment application that the Crown will likely ask for a sentence 鈥渢hat would, in all likelihood, keep the applicant in custody until he dies.鈥� She said the defence will be asking the court to 鈥渋mpose a much lower sentence鈥� and to grant him 鈥渟ignificant pretrial credit, relying heavily on his age and health.鈥�

She told Goldstein that she was prepared for the sentencing hearing to at least start on May 14 as scheduled, when the Crown was expected to tender victim impact statements, but Goldstein suggested it would be better to do everything in one go.聽

鈥淭his is not a situation where we鈥檙e just trying to avoid the inevitable,鈥� Savard said. 鈥淩ather, a situation where we鈥檙e trying to make the most of the time we have in a difficult situation.鈥�

Nygard was first sent to jail in December 2020 in Winnipeg pending extradition to the United States on sexual offences; he was transferred to 91原创 in October 2021 ahead of his sexual assault trial.聽

He still faces sexual assault trials in Montreal and Winnipeg. Former federal Justice Minister David Lametti previously stated that Nygard can be extradited to New York to face further sexual assault and sex trafficking charges once his Canadian criminal cases are completed. The Manitoba Court of Appeal recently dismissed Nygard鈥檚 request for a judicial review of the former minister鈥檚 decision.