A Jaffrey man has been granted bail while he appeals a conviction in a sexual assault case to which he pled guilty to related charges in July.
Elijah Fogg, 18, of Jaffrey appeared in the Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene on Thursday for a bail hearing. Judge David Ruoff initially told Fogg he would rule on the matter by the end of the week, and on Friday granted the bail with conditions.
Fogg was released on his own recognizance.
Fogg pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual assault and misdemeanor false imprisonment in July, in a plea agreement that required him to serve six months in jail, with another six months suspended for 10 years on the condition of his good behavior.
In the case, Fogg was accused of sexual contact with the female, after she told him to stop and holding the female with his hand, preventing her from pulling away from him. The incident reportedly took place at a party in April 2018 when Fogg was 17.
Fogg is now appealing his case to the New Hampshire Supreme Court on jurisdictional grounds. Under New Hampshire law, those appealing a case can apply to be released on bail during the appeal process.
Fogg was requesting release on his own personal recognizance, based on his compliance with bail conditions prior to his sentencing.
Ruoff noted the circumstances of the bail hearing were unusual, saying he had dealt with appeal cases following a trial conviction, but a jurisdictional appeal following a plea was something he hadn’t encountered. Neither had Fogg’s defense attorney nor the prosecutor in the case.
The state argued that when Fogg entered his plea, he waived his statutory right to release on bail. However, Ruoff, in his written decision on the matter, said the right to bail was not one Fogg could waive without explicitly saying so. And he may not have been fully aware of his right to bail during appeal when he first entered his plea, Ruoff wrote.
“…[I]t seams very likely that the defendant was not aware that he could be released on bail once his appeal was filed – otherwise the request would have been made at the same time the [Notice of Appeal] was filed, not several weeks later,” Ruoff wrote.
Fogg’s bail included conditions, including that he not contact his alleged victim, that he continues to live at his current address, that he not possess a firearm or ammunition, not use drugs or alcohol, observe a curfew and not have any unsupervised contact with minors except his own child.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.