Defence abruptly rests its case in Hockey Canada trial
Each of the five defence teams abruptly rested its case in the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial on Monday morning after calling only a few witnesses to the stand.
Each of the five defence teams abruptly rested its case in the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial on Monday morning after calling only a few witnesses to the stand.
On Monday, both the Crown and defence concluded presenting evidence with the defence’s final witness, London Police Service detective Lyndsey Ryan, testifying about the investigation.
The London police force, led by Det. Ryan, reopened their probe into the matter in 2022 amid intense public pressure after Hockey Canada settled, for an undisclosed sum, a $3.5-million sexual assault lawsuit filed by the complainant against the organization and eight unnamed John Doe players.
Unlike in 2018, London police approached the case from a different angle in 2022 that didn’t focus on the complainant’s state of intoxication.
Instead, they laid charges on the theory that she went along with the sexual activity in the room because she felt intimidated, and the men should have known she wasn’t consenting — the same argument the Crown has made at trial.
Former NHLers Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote have all pleaded not guilty to one count each of sexual assault relating to a group sexual encounter the complainant alleges was non-consensual. McLeod, meanwhile, has additionally pleaded not guilty to being a party to a sexual assault.
McLeod’s additional charge is in relation to him allegedly inviting other players to his hotel room without E.M.’s approval and encouraging them to engage in sexual activity with the complainant.
The complainant—identified only as E.M. due to a publication ban—alleges she was sexually assaulted for several hours by the accused after engaging in consensual sex with McLeod.
The prosecution’s case hinges primarily on the first-hand witness testimony of the complainant, shared in graphic detail over a nine-day “marathon of testimony.”
Over the course of the trial, the Crown alleged that Formenton separately had intercourse with the complainant in the bathroom, that McLeod, Hart, and Dubé obtained oral sex from the woman, that Dubé slapped her naked buttocks, and that Foote did the splits over her head and his genitals “grazed” her face — all without her consent.
The “splits incident,” referred to repeatedly as the “teabagging” incident by Crown prosecutor Catherine Cunningham, offered a key material difference in the respective testimonies of the complainant and the defence.
Carter Hart, who was the only defendant to take the stand, maintained that his former teammate, Cal Foote, was fully clothed and did the splits over the complainant’s torso rather than her face.
At the time of the alleged incident, members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team had found themselves together in London for the Hockey Canada Foundation’s annual Gala & Golf fundraising event.
The players were set to receive their championship rings for winning the world championship earlier that year in Buffalo, New York, as part of the event.
London police initially declined to lay charges in 2019 because lead investigator Steve Newton had doubts that the complainant was too intoxicated to consent, as she had told police.
Newton wondered in his report whether the complainant was an “active participant” in the events in question and also whether she was being “coerced” by her family to report to the police.
London police Det. Lyndsey Ryan, who headed the follow-up investigation into the alleged incident, was the last witness to speak.
Called upon by the defence, Ryan testified that the complainant in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case “was actually quite upset” when investigators broke the news that the force was taking a second look at its initial investigation.
“I got the sense that I was opening up some wounds that she was trying to close,” said Ryan, who added that the case was reopened four years after the initial probe to “tie loose ends” and so the London Police Service could ensure “everything was done properly.”
With each of the five defence teams simultaneously resting their cases, the court is adjourned until June 9.
Beginning Monday morning, each of the five defence teams will be the first to deliver their closing arguments.
The legal teams for the defence informed Ontario Superior Court of Justice Maria Carroccia that they would take approximately one or two hours each to present their closing arguments.
Meanwhile, Meaghan Cunningham, representing the Crown, said she’d need “about a day” to offer her closing arguments.
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