Accuser's story built on 'white lie,' defence argues at Hockey Canada trial

National Post

2 days ago

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Humphrey also pointed to McLeod's 'consent' videos that he filmed showing the woman affirming she gave consent to all the sexual activity where she 'looks and sounds like someone not significantly affected by alcohol.'
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Savard argued Hart's encounter with the woman was 'brief and unambiguously consensual.'
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Hart, who Savard said was 'frank and forthright' in his testimony, was the only accused to testify. He described being drunk and excited to see a naked woman in the room who was asking for sexual encounters, how he asked for oral sex and how she consented.
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'It does make sense that Mr. Hart would seek explicit consent to oral sex,' Savard said. 'This was by everyone's account, a surreal sexual situation… And it is natural in that circumstance to ask a question aimed at making sure that this is real, that it's not a dream that is too good to be true,' she said.
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Also, 'it was a negotiation that led to an activity that was clearly consensual for both,' Savard said.
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Savard asked Carroccia to accept the evidence of Steenbergen and Howden that there was a single act of oral sex performed on Hart and there was no 'trio' of oral sex encounters as described by the woman, who didn't even identify Hart during the initial police investigation.
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If there is any stereotype running through this trial, 'it is this insidious idea that hockey players by virtue of the fact that they play closely together on a team in professional sports naturally protect their own,' Savard said.
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But she asked Carroccia to look at Hart's testimony, how he wasn't particularly helpful to the co-defendant's cases. 'The Crown's path to success depends on the Crown convincing your honour that these young men are effectively working in concert.'
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'These men are former professional colleagues who worked together for three weeks in 2018, did not know each other well beforehand, have not seen each other meaningfully since, and have no reason to lie for each other,' Savard said.
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She said there is 'an evidentiary gap on the issue of oppressive or coercive circumstances.' There was no physical coercion, no blocking of the door, no threats, no use of force, she said.
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The woman had little memory of the sexual activities, Savard said. The woman also testified she went on 'auto-pilot' and adopted 'a porn star persona' and 'her body did a number of things that her mind hadn't authorized,' the lawyer said.
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Even though Savard said the defence's primary position is that the woman 'was consenting enthusiastically, regretting it later,' the woman's testimony suggests that her initial state of mind when she looked out from the bathroom after having sex with McLeod and saw a group of men was 'worry,' which Savard argued isn't traumatic.
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'It is not in and of itself something that causes your mind to detach from your body and float onto the ceiling and remove your ability to choose,' she said.
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Savard agreed that when there are coercive factors present, 'trauma can make you do all sorts of non-intuitive things… but the important piece here is that nothing traumatic has happened yet.
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'We're not talking about a victim of sexual assault… We're taking about a woman who's just had a consensual experience and is encountering not an assault, but people coming into a room. Not an assault, not a violation of her sexual integrity.'
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