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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hockey Canada Sexual Assault Trial: Golden Knights' Brett Howden Breaks Down In Tears During Defense's Cross-Examination
Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden broke down in tears during Thursday's Hockey Canada sexual assault trial while being cross-examined over text messages he previously sent to a former teammate a week after the alleged assault. Howden, who is not one of the five former members of Canada's 2018 world junior team currently facing charges of sexual assault, told the court that he was initially afraid to talk to his family about the alleged assault. Instead, he reached out to Taylor Raddysh, another member of Team Canada's roster, who is now a right winger for the Washington Capitals. 'It was hard, even the thought of just bringing this up with my parents,' Howden said via Zoom. 'I was kind of looking for a friend, because I didn't know how to go about this.' Following questioning from the Crown, Howden was cross-examined by the defense attorney Lisa Carnelos, who is representing Dillon Dube, one of the five former members of Canada's 2018 world junior team currently facing charges of sexual assault – the other four being Michael McLeod, Carter Hart Alex Formenton and Cal Foote. All five men have pleaded not guilty to their charges, with McLeod pleading not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault as party to the offense. These charges all stem from a June 2018 incident in which a woman, referred to in court documents as E.M., alleged she was sexually assaulted in a London, Ont. hotel room following a Hockey Canada gala. About a week after the alleged assault, Howden began a text conversation with Raddysh, where the two discussed the ongoing Hockey Canada investigation and what occurred in the hotel room, specifically the actions of Dube. 'Dude, I'm so happy I left when all the s--- went down. Haha," Howden texted to Raddysh. "Man, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl's ass so hard. Like, it looks like it hurt so bad." Carnelos asked Howden how he was feeling when initially notified of the Hockey Canada investigation, suggesting that Howden must have been nervous. Howden, who is now 27, agreed that he was nervous at the time. Carnelos pressed further and suggested that Howden was afraid of what his father would say. 'That was one of the hardest things to go through, explaining this to my family,' Howden said. Carnelos also suggested that it also must have been hard for Howden to tell his then-girlfriend at the time. Howden agreed. Carnelos then added that Howden and her are now married and just had their second child together, before congratulating Howden. It was at this point that Howden broke down crying. The presiding judge, Maria Carroccia, asked if Howden needed a break, but he calmed down and said he reached out to Raddysh as a friend because Howden was afraid to talk to his family about the incident. 'It was hard, even the thought of just bringing this up with my parents,' Howden said. 'I was kind of looking for a friend, because I didn't know how to go about this.' The main focus of the text messages was Howden telling Raddysh that Dube was allegedly 'smacking this girl's ass so hard.' When previously questioned by the Crown, Howden had said that he didn't remember sending that exact message or the others in that conversation. When the Crown asked if Howden was being 'truthfully factual' when he sent these messages to Raddysh, Howden agreed. "I believe that I was being honest," Howden said. Following Howden's dismissal for the day by Justice Carroccia, the Crown and defense teams analyzed Howden's message regarding Dube further. The defense argued that despite Howden believing that he was being honest and truthful at the time he sent the message, this doesn't mean he was necessarily accurate in his message, a point expressed by one of Hart's lawyers, Riaz Sayani . 'A belief in honesty and accuracy are two different things,' Sayani said. Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham responded to the defense, explaining that Howden was not simply assuming that he told the truth in these messages, but that it was what he truly believed. 'Mr. Howden didn't say 'I would not lie' or 'I would have told the truth,'' Cunningham said. 'He says, 'I believe I was being honest.' 'I believe that is the truth.'' Following the arguments from both sides, Justice Carroccia ended the court proceedings for the day, saying that she would need some time to make a decision on the admissibility of the text message, as well as whether the Crown will be able to cross-examine Howden. The trial is expected to resume Friday morning.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hockey Canada Sexual Assault Trial: E.M. Told Friend She Felt 'Dirty And Used' As Defense Shows More Texts
Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers. On Monday, a defense lawyer in the Hockey Canada trial read excerpts from a text conversation between the complainant and her best friend, sent after the complainant alleges she was sexually assaulted by five members of the 2018 Canadian world junior team in a London, Ont. hotel room following a Hockey Canada gala in June 2018. The players in question – former NHLers Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote – all pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault, with McLeod pleading not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault as party to the offense. During a cross-examination of the complainant, referred to in court documents as E.M. due to a publication ban on her identity, Dube's lawyer, Lisa Carnelos, read portions of a text conversation from June 2018 between the complainant and her best friend. The texts span from June 19 – the morning after the alleged sexual assault – to June 22, 2018. This friend is different from the co-worker who was at the bar with E.M. – their text conversation was examined last week. The complainant's friend initially messaged her to check in after she had received a call from E.M. just before 5:00 a.m. on June 19. In the call, the complainant cried while discussing the night's events as she left the Delta Armouries Hotel. E.M. eventually responded to her friend's text but didn't mention the alleged incident, just replying that she was fine and had been 'a little overdramatic.' Carnelos continued to read excerpts to the jury and E.M., who continues to testify from another room in the London, Ont., courthouse via video feed. The complainant eventually opened up to her friend more, saying that she felt 'dirty and used' following the events in the hotel room. As more of the conversation was read, Carnelos asked the complainant why she didn't initially tell her friend about the alleged sexual assault aspect of the night, suggesting that if she had felt she'd been 'sexually violated or assaulted that night,' she would have informed her best friend right away. E.M. said she doesn't 'like to burden people with my own problems.' She also said she was trying to pretend it didn't happen Carnelos continued to press E.M. that she would tell something like that to someone she considers a best friend. 'She was (her best friend), but I'd never had to tell her about something like this before,' E.M. said. 'I didn't want to say those words (sexual assault) because then it would be true.' Another portion of the texts showed E.M. and her friend discussing McLeod specifically. 'He seemed really chill at the bar. You couldn't have known he was going to be such an a--hole, so you can't blame yourself,' the friend texted E.M. on June 19. E.M. also messaged her friend, expressing her guilt over cheating on her boyfriend at the time, which was discussed earlier on in the cross-examination process. As the text chain shifted to June 22, 2018, Carnelos read that E.M. mentioned to her friend that the men involved were hockey players. 'The group of guys are all high-up hockey players,' E.M. texted to her friend. 'Go figure. LMAO.' Defense Shows Texts Between E.M. And Colleague From June 2018 At Hockey Canada Trial Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers. Earlier in Monday's proceedings, Formenton's lawyer, Daniel Brown, continued his cross-examination from where it left off on Friday. Early in his Monday questioning, he pressed E.M. on her weight at the time of the alleged assault, pointing out that she previously said in court that she was 120 pounds in June 2018 but that her medical records from the time show she was 138 pounds. Brown suggested she changed this to further prove to the jury how much smaller she was than the men. E.M. denied this suggestion and said she rarely weighed herself. Brown's primary focus, however, was on alleged events in the hotel room, suggesting the complainant had been 'egging on' the players to perform sexual acts on her. 'Do you remember saying, 'Are you going to f--- me or play golf?' ' Brown asked E.M. The complainant said she had no recollection of saying that phrase, nor did it sound like something she would say. Brown shifted to the complainant's alleged sexual encounter with Formenton in the bathroom, suggesting it was she who led him to the bathroom. E.M. denied this, saying he followed her as she was going to the bathroom herself. The lawyer finished his cross-examination by suggesting E.M. initially reported the incident to the police in the hopes that any pictures or videos of her from the night of the alleged sexual assault would be deleted from the men's phones. E.M. denied this suggestion. The defense's cross-examination is expected to continue on Tuesday as Cal Foote's lawyer, Julianna Greenspan, will begin her questioning of the complainant.
