Closing arguments underway after six-week long Diddy trial
Michell Epner, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, says the defense lawyers 'did a tremendous amount of cross examination' as the case comes to a close.
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National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: Hockey Canada judge believed in truth, not 'believe all women'
Article content She didn't leave happy, though: towards the end, McLeod asked her if she had STDs, and whether she was going to be leaving soon, which she felt was rude. E.M. also testified that McLeod also seemed annoyed at her when she returned to the room to search for a lost ring; she took an Uber home and was found crying in the shower by her mother, who 'took it upon herself' to report a sexual assault to police. Article content E.M. later explained to the court that her actions were driven by fear — fear that she never mentioned until she filed a civil suit against Hockey Canada, four years after the fact. Her mind 'separated' from her body to cope, she claimed. The judge didn't buy her story: important details had changed over time, and E.M.'s own concept of truth was uncomfortably fuzzy. Plus, E.M. initially told police that she didn't think the men would have physically forced her to stay. Article content The judge didn't hypothesize the complainant's actual feelings about what happened, but I suspect E.M. was quite miserable. She may have felt shame and regret for cheating on her boyfriend, as the defence argued during the trial. The little oral sex that was had was awkward and not erotic at all. The STD question may have felt like an accusation. Article content Article content Pop culture tells women that consensual sex is a neutral to empowering act, and good feminists will tell their friends that there's nothing to be ashamed about in sex. Slut shaming, we all knew in the good year 2018, was bad. But missing from that intense belief in female agency was the other side of the coin: that women can consent to something and wish they hadn't. Article content And certainly, the men regret it too. Their evidence suggested they took care to ensure consent was given at the time, and even that wasn't enough to keep an investigation from pausing, perhaps snuffing out, their NHL careers. McLeod and Foote were put on indefinite leave last year by the New Jersey Devils, as was Hart by the Philadelphia Flyers and Dubé by the Calgary Flames. And in 2022, Formenton may have lost out on a new contract with the Ottawa Senators due to the allegations; he played in Sweden until the charges were laid in 2024, and now works in construction. As for the future of these five men, the ball is still in the Ontario Crown's court. Prosecutors will have to decide in the next month whether to appeal for another shot at securing convictions; there's still a way this can drag out for years. Article content Supporters of E.M. will say the acquittals amount to a terrible outcome for women and sexual assault survivors, but they're the opposite. If sexual assault is to be taken seriously, it needs to mean something. It's to the actual victims' benefit that Carroccia didn't bend the rules to acrobatically extend the concept of sexual assault to new frontiers of apparently regretful intercourse, as courts have done in the past; doing so would have cheapened the concept to dollar store levels. Article content So, now what? After the decision was read, E.M.'s lawyer, Karen Bellehumeur, immediately took to calling for reform. 'While the accused's rights are important, those protections should not come at the expense of survivors' well-being,' she told a media scrum late Thursday. She expressed frustration with the fact that E.M. had to testify for nine days and was subject to 'insulting, unfair, mocking and disrespectful' cross-examination. 'She's really never experienced not being believed like this before.' Nine days of careful scrutiny is a very modest ask when a man is facing jail for an apparently consensual act that didn't pass the initial police sniff test. Article content
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Edmonton police warn extortions, arsons targeting South Asian businesses resurging
EDMONTON — Edmonton police warned a crowded town hall on Monday night that extortions and arsons similar to ones that targeted members of the South Asian community across the city and elsewhere in Canada about a year ago have seen a resurgence in recent months. Interim Chief of Police Warren Driechel said the attacks in Edmonton had stopped after several suspects were arrested in 2024 in connection to about 40 extortions and arsons targeting affluent South Asian homebuilders and business owners. But since May, he said six more similar cases have been reported, leading investigators to believe the attacks are back and that there may be more victims. 'They're very similar activity,' Dreichel told reporters as community members left the town hall, during which police encouraged members of the South Asian diaspora to come forward if they've been targeted with extortion threats. 'There has been obviously some financial loss to people,' he said. Local business owner Ashish Verma said he felt a little relieved after attending the town hall as he was one of the people who was threatened this summer. He said he received a message from extorters demanding $100,000 and threats his children would be kidnapped if he didn't pay up. Verma said he immediately told police. But even after police got involved, he said he remains worried over his and his family's safety. 'It's very hard for me to go out. Whenever my kids want to go out alone to play downstairs or out in the garden, I tell them not to go. I try to keep an eye on them. I'm scared,' he said in an interview outside the town hall. 'I can't sleep sometimes.' Dreichel said similar extortions and arsons targeting British Columbia and Ontario's South Asian community, including homebuilders and business owners, have taken place in recent years. The investigation into the previous 40 cases of arsons, extortions, and shootings in Edmonton has been dubbed Project Gaslight. In January, EPS said its detectives completed their investigation and several suspects were arrested. Police said they were seeking to extradite Maninder Dhaliwal, the alleged ringleader of the Edmonton attacks, from the United Arab Emirates. Police have said the suspects often reached out to victims over social media and threatened violence if they didn't receive money. Several people have lost millions over the threats. Businesses have been shot. Homes have been burned down across the country. Edmonton's Interim Chief of Police Devin Laforce said in a separate news conference this month that investigators believe the cases across the country and the latest ones in Edmonton could be connected to the Bishnoi gang, led by Lawrence Bishnoi in India who has several associates in Canada. That's why Laforce said the police service supports calls from provincial governments in Alberta and B.C., and the mayor of Brampton in Ontario, to designate the gang as a terrorist entity. B.C. Premier David Eby sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney last month asking for the designation. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said this month in a statement that the gang is not welcome in the province. Laforce said the designation would help investigators look into the gang with a national focus. It allows investigators to withhold banking funds, for example, have more resources for surveillance and also deter others from joining the gang. Police at Monday's town hall told South Asian community members to report ongoing crimes to police and look out for signs of youth being involved in gang activity, alleging ringleaders of the attacks in Project Gaslight recruited youth to commit crimes on their behalf. Investigators said some of the signs include youth expressing a feeling that they don't belong and lying about where they're going and who they're spending time with. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Gunman kills 4, including police officer, in shooting at New York City office tower
New York City officials provide an update on a mass shooting inside a midtown Manhattan office building that killed at least four people.
