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Time of India
3 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Crown concludes sexual assault case against five players from the 2018 Canada World Juniors team
World Juniors sexual assault case (Credit: Getty Image) The Crown officially concluded its case on Thursday in the sexual assault trial involving five members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior hockey team. Carter Hart, one of the accused, was called to the witness stand in the London, Ontario courtroom. Alongside Hart, four other former NHL players, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, and Michael McLeod, face charges related to an alleged group assault. The alleged incident occurred in June 2018, after a Hockey Canada event celebrating the team's gold medal win. The complainant, publicly known only as E.M., alleges that after initially consenting to sex with one player, she was assaulted by others over several hours. Each of the five players has pleaded not guilty. McLeod faces two counts, while the others face one each. McLeod is the only accused who has chosen not to testify so far. Carter Hart testifies as trial reaches new phase Carter Hart called to stand in Hockey Canada sexual assault trial Hart's appearance in court came as the Crown wrapped its six-week presentation of evidence. His testimony marked a turning point in the high-profile trial. Though previously inactive in the NHL since the charges surfaced, Hart's participation as a witness places further focus on his role in the events being examined. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Before being called, Hart had remained largely silent publicly. The Crown had also considered calling former teammate Maxime Comtois, who was present during the night in question but has not been accused of any wrongdoing. However, prosecutors ultimately did not bring him forward. Mistrials and dismissed juries delay proceedings Carter Hart #79 of the Philadelphia Flyers (Credit: Getty Image) The trial has faced repeated delays. Two separate juries were discharged before the current proceedings could gain momentum. The first mistrial occurred in April, prompting the dismissal of a 14-person jury. A second jury was let go earlier this month due to unspecified complications. Read more: Roope Hintz's personal life with his wife Kristina Niemi With high public interest and reputations on the line, the upcoming stages of the trial will determine the legal fates of the accused. The proceedings also continue to raise larger questions about accountability in sports and the culture surrounding elite-level hockey in Canada.
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Teammate describes sex acts in Hockey Canada sexual assault trial
A member of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team described watching his teammates have oral sex with a young woman in a London, Ont., hotel room during the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial Wednesday. Tyler Steenbergen, the latest Crown witness, said two teammates, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod, received oral sex from a woman after she asked the men assembled in the room for sex. Advertisement 'She said, 'Can one of you guys come over and f—k me,'' Steenbergen testified. Steenbergen was teammates with McLeod, Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote, who are facing sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged incident in 2018. The complainant, a woman known as E.M., said she was sexually assaulted over the span of several hours. The men were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their 2018 World Juniors championship. All five of the accused have pleaded not guilty. Steenbergen played three seasons in the AHL but no longer plays professional hockey. He now works with his father building small starter homes, he said. Steenbergen told Crown attorney Heather Donkers that after the Hockey Canada gala, the team went to a pub before going to Jack's bar. He and others were drinking at the pub and continued drinking at the bar, he said. He said he had 'a couple' of beers at Jack's. 'I was drunk but I wasn't overly drunk,' he said about his state once he left the bar at closing time, around 2 or 2:30 a.m. When he arrived at the hotel, he said he received a text message via a group chat saying there was food in McLeod's room. He went up to the room with two other teammates, including Dubé. There were seven men, including Hart, Formenton and McLeod, in the room when they arrived, he said, and soon after, he said someone mentioned there was 'a naked girl in the bathroom.' A naked young woman emerged, lay down on a bedsheet spread out on the floor, started masturbating and asked the men in the room for sex, he said. Hart walked over to her, unbuckled his belt, pulled his pants down and received fellatio for about 30 to 60 seconds, Steenbergen said. Donkers asked whether Hart said anything to the woman before, during or after the oral sex. Steenbergen said he could not recall. Advertisement Steenbergen said McLeod received fellatio in much the same way. 'The pants were down and then it was pretty quick, from what I remember,' he said. Steenbergen said he also could not recall whether anything was said at the time. Earlier during his testimony, he said he knew some of the players on the team, including Dubé, after years of playing with and against them. He said by 2018, he and Dubé were friendly but not close. Steenbergen also said that since the team didn't have a 'superstar,' the team fostered a 'close' dynamic. He will return to the witness box Thursday morning. Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham spent Wednesday morning and most of the afternoon on the re-examination of E.M., the complainant in the case. A re-examination seeks to clarify details brought up during the cross-examination, which wrapped up Tuesday. Wednesday marked E.M.'s ninth consecutive day in the witness box; she was first called to testify May 2. Much of the day was consumed by legal arguments, which required the witness and jury to be excused. During E.M.'s re-examination, the Crown asked her to clarify part of her statement to police on June 22, 2018, a few days after the incident, in which she described one of the men in the room 'did the splits on my face, just put it in my face.' E.M. told Cunningham that she meant that the man's legs were split over her face, and that he put his penis right on her face. 'It was all I was seeing,' E.M. said. 'It was directly on my face.' Earlier in the trial, Julianna Greenspan, Foote's lawyer, called his ability to do the splits a 'party trick.' E.M. was also asked why she did not participate in the Hockey Canada investigation in 2018, but changed her mind when the national governing body reopened its third-party investigation in 2022. She said in 2018, she was focused on the police investigation. By 2022, the police investigation was closed, and the lawsuit she had filed against Hockey Canada and eight unidentified defendants had been settled out of court. Advertisement 'It just felt like one more thing to kind of do to finally put this behind me,' she said. Cunningham also asked E.M. about her civil lawsuit against Hockey Canada, asking her if the statement of claim in that suit named any of the John Does included in the suit. E.M. said that it did not. 'My understanding was that they wouldn't be identified at all,' E.M. said. 'That's the reason for going with the John Doe name.' E.M. also told Cunningham that the statement of claim did not identify acts that each John Doe did, nor did it say that eight different people touched her in a sexual manner. It was her lawyer's decision to later name the John Does in a statement to Hockey Canada in July 2022, E.M. said. During her cross-examination, Megan Savard, lawyer for Hart, referred to that statement as a public document, suggesting players had been identified. On Wednesday, Cunningham asked E.M. to clarify who she understood would have access to that statement. E.M. said she believed it should just go to Hockey Canada. Earlier, Cunningham asked E.M. to clarify how she would have referred to her female friends in 2018. E.M. said that she would have called them 'girls' because that's how she spoke back then, when she was 20 years old. The defense has referred to the accused as 'boys' throughout the trial. During her cross-examination, Greenspan suggested that E.M. has called the accused 'men' during the trial because she has a 'clear agenda.' — The Athletic′s Kamila Hinkson reported remotely from Montreal and The Athletic′s Dan Robson reported remotely from Toronto.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Defense attorney questions E.M. about calling players men during Hockey Canada trial
The fifth and final defense attorney in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial began her cross-examination Tuesday by accusing the complainant of having 'an agenda' for using the term 'men' to refer to the five hockey players accused of sexual assault and other members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team. Advertisement Throughout the trial, all five defense attorneys have referred to the accused, who were all at least 18 at the time of the alleged incident, as 'boys.' Julianna Greenspan, lawyer for Cal Foote, suggested that E.M. referring to the players as 'men' was an intentional choice. E.M. agreed, referencing their ages. 'I've been calling them men because that's what they were,' E.M. said. Foote, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Carter Hart are all facing sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged incident in which E.M. said she was sexually assaulted over the span of several hours in a London, Ont., hotel room while players were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their 2018 World Juniors championship. All five players have pleaded not guilty. E.M. has appeared in the witness box by CCTV since May 2. She has testified that after a night of drinking and dancing at Jack's bar, she returned to the hotel with McLeod and engaged in consensual sex. Afterward, she said, men showed up in the hotel room without her consent and that she was scared. E.M. said that she was asked to lay down on a bedsheet on the floor, and did so because she felt she had no choice. Over the next couple of hours, she said she was coaxed into performing oral sex and vaginal sex, and was slapped and spit on while players yelled out directions and encouraged each other. She said the experience left her feeling degraded and humiliated. On Tuesday, Greenspan brought up the first statement E.M. made to police in June 2018, in which she uses the word 'boy' to describe her interactions with the men she met at the bar that night. Greenspan emphasized that E.M. did not use the term 'man' in her statement in June 2018. 'Not one single time did you use the reference 'man' or 'men' in June 2018 to refer to these individuals, right?' Greenspan said. Advertisement 'That's right. That's not how I spoke back then,' E.M. replied. 'That was seven years ago.' Greenspan again suggested that E.M. used the term boys in 2018 because it described 'who they were' and 'what they were.' 'Pretty obvious,' Greenspan said. 'Just because I used 'boys,' because that was the only way I could really articulate this and get this out to the officer, doesn't change the fact that their age made them men,' E.M. replied. Greenspan continued to press the point. 'The reason you have so carefully changed your language is that you have come into this trial with a clear agenda,' Greenspan said. 'Isn't that right?' 'No, absolutely not. I'm older. I understand more,' E.M. said. 'They were men.' Greenspan suggested that E.M. was likely aware of who the World Junior players were because she had family members who played and coached hockey at various levels. Greenspan also noted that the London Knights are a popular OHL team. The Knights play at Canada Life Place next door to the London Courthouse, and just a few blocks away from Jack's bar and the Delta hotel. 'I knew of the London Knights team … I couldn't tell you a single player on the team,' E.M. said, adding that she had never been to a Knights game at that point. Greenspan said that in December 2018, the Canadian World Junior team played an exhibition game at the Knights arena, then known as Budweiser Garden. E.M. said she was not aware that the team played there. She has previously testified that she did not share her family's interest in hockey. Greenspan continues her cross-examination of E.M. today. — The Athletic's Dan Robson reported remotely from Toronto, and The Athletic's Kamila Hinkson reported remotely from Montreal. The Athletic's Katie Strang contributed additional reporting. (Photo of Cal Foote arriving at the London, Ont., courthouse on May 8 with his lawyer Julianna Greenspan: Geoff Robins / The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Times
17-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How a sexual assault allegation decades ago rocked a city and upended a life
More than three decades later, Murray Walter still carries the heavy memory. It weighs on his voice. Not anger, exactly. At least not anymore. It took him years to get past that part. But he's in his late-70s now, long retired from his career as a small-town trial lawyer. And that old fury has settled into a resigned sadness. Advertisement 'Of all the cases that I had over 50 years, this one was the one that was the most difficult for me personally,' Walter says. He's followed headlines of the looming sexual assault trial of five members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior gold medal-winning hockey team, the latest in a near constant cycle of allegations of group sexual assault involving junior hockey players since the case Walter defended first captured the nation's attention. The Swift Current Broncos had just won the Memorial Cup, beating the rival Saskatoon Blades in overtime. The national championship came less than three years after four players were killed when the team's bus crashed on the highway just outside of Swift Current. The Broncos' emotional triumph made headlines across the country. For the community of 16,000 people in southwestern Saskatchewan, the victory was a step toward healing. 'They were the heroes,' Walter says. Five months later, the mood changed. The allegations were shocking. And to many, unbelievable: Two members of the Swift Current Broncos were charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl. A publication ban was immediately placed on the allegations and the names of the accused. By the time a court challenge by the CBC succeeded in having the ban lifted, the two 18-year-old players accused of the assault — Brian Sakic and Wade Smith — were traded to the Tri-City Americans, in Kennewick, Wash. Despite the move across the border, more than 700 miles away, the players were jeered by taunts of 'rapists' from fans around the Western Hockey League, media reports said. A few weeks later, in late November, the charges against the players were dropped by the Justice Department — and the girl who made the complaint was charged with mischief. Her trial was set for February 1990. Advertisement Walter knew the young woman's family from the congregation at St. Olaf Lutheran Church. Her parents asked for his help days before she was charged, when it seemed to her family that the police were turning against their daughter. By then, Walter says, it seemed that much of the community had made up its mind. He noted what he said was a clear conflict of interest in how the initial charges were approached. In her book 'Crossing the Line,' journalist Laura Robinson wrote about the tangled realties of justice in a small town. A part-owner of the Broncos was a former law partner of the Crown prosecutor in Swift Current. Walter believes that relationship played a part in the Crown's decision to drop the charges against the players. A guidance counselor at the local high school was accused of pressuring the alleged victim to drop the charges. The counselor later denied to Robinson that she had pressured the student. 'There were two focuses,' Walter says. 'To protect the players and the team, and to send a message to young women: Don't make complaints.' Walter agreed to represent the young woman against the allegation that she had made a false claim to the police. The girl's identity was protected by a publication ban because she was being tried as a minor, but it provided no anonymity in a small town. As the trial neared, it seemed to Murray the sentiment in Swift Current was that the girl had lied about her experience. Beyond her family, the only support she had was from a group of older women at St. Olaf who met with her frequently, and Southwest Crisis Services, a local nonprofit that provides aid for victims of abuse. Murray had defended murder trials in Swift Current, which garnered lots of local attention. But he'd never experienced anything like this. 'If you're a trial lawyer in a smaller community, you get a little bit used to that,' Murray says. 'But this was more — and from people maybe you wouldn't otherwise expect.' Advertisement His family was targeted. Two of Walter's children went to the same high school as the girl and Broncos players. His children were questioned at school because their father had agreed to defend the alleged victim against the accusations that she'd lied to police. There were no alleyway fistfights, Walter says, but there were several uncomfortable conversations. Friendships were broken, and never repaired. He was OK with lost acquaintances. 'It made me so angry the way she was being treated,' he says. At the trial, in a packed courtroom, the judge heard that the accused was a shy teenager with few friends who struggled in school. Her guidance counselor testified she had a below-average IQ of 83, according to media reports of the proceedings. The young woman, who had turned 18 by the time the trial had begun, broke down in tears in the courtroom as those details were revealed. She testified that she had longed to date a hockey player and to be popular. Brian Sakic was in her class at school. She testified that the previous February, she had gone to the house where Sakic and another player were boarding and had oral sex with them because she wanted Sakic to like her. The following September, she phoned Sakic and invited him to her parents' apartment, apparently to watch TV. Sakic testified that he went 'suspecting sex.' Sakic came over briefly and left, then returned to the apartment with his friend Wade Smith. She told the court that she told the players not to come in. When they did, she said, she was told to undress and have sex with Smith — to which she repeatedly said no. Over the next hour, she said, sexual acts occurred without her consent. The young woman testified that she did what she was asked because she was scared and had been ordered to. She was left bleeding, suffering considerable physical and emotional pain, the judge in the case later said. She said Sakic asked her not to tell anyone what had happened. Sakic initially admitted this in an interview with police, but denied it on the stand. He claimed the girl consented to have sex with him and Smith. He didn't like her, he told the court, but he wanted to have sex. Smith denied he was involved when police first questioned him. But days before the young woman was charged with mischief, he told police that he'd had consensual sex with her at the apartment. Advertisement 'I was scared,' Smith told the court, when asked why he'd lied to the police. Though the girl initially objected to having sex with Smith, the court was told that she later agreed when Sakic threatened to not go out with her if she failed to complete the sexual act. After being accused of lying to the police and charged, the girl attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills, according to media reports. In the trial, the Crown prosecutor said that he believed the previous sexual experience with one of the players was 'significant' regarding consent. By the end of trial, the sentiment seemed to have shifted. The packed Swift Current courtroom erupted into applause as she was acquitted on the charge that she had lied to police about being sexually assaulted. In his decision, Judge Gerald King said that he doubted the stories told by the two players. King described what occurred in the apartment as 'degrading and disgusting by any reasonable person's standards' — and said, from his perspective, the young woman 'honestly believed what had happened to her … was not by consent.' After the trial, Walter called for the Justice Department to investigate the decision to drop the charges against the players and charge the alleged victim. He suggested that threats of a lawsuit against the RCMP and the Crown had influenced the decision to lay the mischief charge. In the months after the case, sexual abuse experts and politicians echoed calls for an investigation. But in May 1990, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Gary Lane announced that he had rejected a request for a public inquiry. The girl and her parents considered a civil suit against the Crown for malicious prosecution, but after meeting with Walter that July, they decided the financial and emotional costs were too high. Shortly after her trial, Walter says, the young woman — the complainant who became the accused — left Swift Current for good. They kept in touch for a long time, he says, but in recent years he lost contact with her. Advertisement 'It was a hard experience,' Walter says. 'It had negative effects for her.' To most, the case is long forgotten. When you ask around Swift Current, there are faint recollections of a trial long ago — at the courthouse, the library, and St. Olaf church. But no clear memories. Even the journalists who covered the trial are hazy on the specifics. Six years after the girl's acquittal, it was revealed that Broncos coach Graham James — who ran the team the year of the fatal crash and when they won the Memorial Cup — had sexually abused several of his players for years. In that wide shadow, the 1989 incident became another footnote in a decades-long list of accusations against junior hockey players and anonymous women forced to find new beginnings. But even as the details fade, the plot stays the same. 'These sort of stories play out in one way or the other,' Walter says. 'Over and over again.' (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Andy Devlin / NHLI/Getty, iStock)
