A jury in Toronto convicted former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard today, Sunday, on four charges related to sexual assault, and acquitted him of one of five sexual assault charges and one charge related to forcible confinement.

Nygard showed no emotion when the verdict was issued on the fifth day of jury deliberations.

Brian Greenspan, Nygard's defense lawyer, said he is considering an appeal. Greenspan said that similar fact evidence is an "important aspect" in such cases and can "determine the outcome." Similar fact evidence is evidence that can be presented when the prosecution wants to show the likelihood of a pattern of behavior.

Greenspan said the defense will consider "whether the issue of similar fact in this case warrants an appeal or not."

Nygard, 82, was accused of attacking five women in the private bedroom suite of his office building in downtown Toronto.

He pleaded not guilty before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to five sexual assault charges and one charge of forcible confinement. Judge Robert Goldstein presided over the trial before the jury.

Nygard was originally faced with eight sexual assault charges and three forcible confinement charges in the Toronto case, but five of these charges were dropped at the start of jury selection.

During the six-week trial, the court heard harrowing and disturbing testimonies from all five complainants: four said they were in their twenties when they alleged they were assaulted, and one said she was 16 years old when she alleged she was attacked by Nygard.

The women testified that from the late 1980s until about 2005, each of them ended up in Nygard's private bedroom suite in his downtown Toronto building, where they said they were attacked, overpowered, and sexually assaulted.

The Crown argued that Nygard used his wealth and power to lure some women, often leading to a tour of his Toronto office building, ending in his private bedroom suite.

The court heard from some women that there is a mirrored door leading to his bedroom, which has no handle from the inside, and that two doors leading to the outside part of his bedroom either need to be opened by pressing a button inside or by entering a security code.

Two of the women told the court they also felt trapped inside that room, with no way out. One woman told the court she repeatedly begged Nygard to let her leave, but he eventually relented. This allegation led to the charge of forcible confinement.

Nygard testified in his defense, appearing on the witness stand for five days. He testified that he could not remember four of the five women, nor any interaction with them.

However, he also insisted and repeated that none of the allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault attributed to him could have happened because he would never engage in such behavior.

He contradicted some complainants' testimonies, arguing, for example, that there is a handle on the interior door of his private bedroom, and denied any method to lock or confine someone inside.

In her closing arguments, Crown attorney Anna Serban said Nygard's testimony was full of contradictions, unreliable, lacked credibility, and should be rejected.

She said this contrasts with the testimony of the five complainants. She said the similarities in their independent testimonies defied coincidence and proved Nygard's guilt.

But Nygard's lawyer said the testimony of the five complainants lacked credibility.

Greenspan told the jury they need to carefully consider all the evidence presented by the Crown and think about the "fatal flaws and unreliability of the testimony" of the five women.

Greenspan pointed out that although Nygard was unable to remember the women, some details they testified to in court may have been possible. For example, he said some of their evidence about how they initially met Nygard on flights may have been possible.

Greenspan said other details the court heard were either improbable, impossible, ridiculous, or sheer nonsense.

He added, "What never happened are the sexual assaults described by all the complainants."

Greenspan also pointed out that some women had the motive to testify against Nygard because they joined a US class action lawsuit against him.

This lawsuit, currently on hold after a New York judge suspended proceedings, includes 57 women. Their allegations date back to 1977, with some claiming they were assaulted when they were 14 or 15 years old.

Nygard also faces a sexual assault charge and one forcible confinement charge in Manitoba, related to crimes allegedly committed in November 1993 involving a victim who was 20 years old at the time.

He also faces a sexual assault charge and a forcible confinement charge regarding incidents alleged to have occurred in Quebec between November 1, 1997 and November 15, 1998, involving one alleged victim.

Meanwhile, Nygard is also fighting extradition to the United States, where he faces charges in New York of nine crimes including conspiracy to commit extortion, transporting a minor for prostitution, and sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.