Douglas Snelgrove is seeking bail while the Supreme Court of Canada ponders whether to hear an appeal of his conviction for sexual assault.

The application for release will be heard Friday in the province’s Appeal Court.

Snelgrove’s lawyers filed documents seeking leave, or permission, to appeal his conviction in late June.

The country’s highest court usually takes two or three months to make its decision, weighing the importance of the case to the public and overall administration of justice.

In the meantime, Snelgrove has the right to seek release pending that ruling.

He has been serving a four-year sentence for sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty in 2014.

It was his third trial in the case after the first two were nullified by judges’ errors.

Snelgrove’s appeal of the conviction and sentence was dismissed by this province’s Court of Appeal in April, ruling there were no mistakes this time around.

Snelgrove has been doing his time at the Springhill Institution in Nova Scotia, and is still technically an RNC officer.

The police force has said his status will be reviewed after the Supreme Court of Canada, his last resort, deals with the case.