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New York Times
3 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Crown lawyer presses Carter Hart on players' efforts ‘keep her in the room'
LONDON, Ont. – Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham grilled Carter Hart on Friday about the steps that he and others took to keep E.M., the complainant in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, in the hotel room during the early hours of June 19, 2018, suggesting the players wanted to 'keep the party going' because they were having 'fun' and found the situation 'exciting.' Advertisement Hart is one of the five players accused of sexually assaulting E.M., who said she was degraded, humiliated, spit on and slapped while being pressured into performing sexual acts on players over the span of several hours in a London, Ont., hotel room while the players were in town to celebrate their 2018 Canadian World Juniors championship in June 2018. He is the first of the five players to take the stand for the defense. Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote are each accused of sexual assault. All five players pleaded not guilty in the trial, which is now in its sixth week. Cunningham repeatedly honed in on the fact that Hart texted Dante Fabbro at 3:27 a.m., messaging him to 'Get to 209.' Hart had previously testified that E.M. repeatedly asked players to have sex with her, became annoyed when they did not and threatened to leave as a result. Hart previously testified that players were 'shocked' by how 'forward' she was being and described events that took place as 'weird' and 'awkward.' If Hart wanted her to leave, Cunningham said, all he had to do was just let her go without saying or doing anything. 'But I'm gonna suggest that you and some of the other guys in the room actually take affirmative steps to keep her in the room,' she said. 'I don't think so,' Hart said. 'No.' 'Well, you just agreed that you were trying to get Dante Fabbro to come into the room to have sex with her so she'd stay,' Cunningham said. Hart reiterated that E.M. was asking for guys to have sex with her. 'I knew that Dante was another single guy on the team,' he said. 'And the only guys that had gotten involved with her that night, I believe, were all single.' Cunningham said that, even if Hart believed she wanted to have sex with them, he didn't have to go along with it. Advertisement 'You're not personally invested in seeing her get what she wants, right?' Cunningham asked. Hart agreed. 'So I'm going to suggest that you must have felt like there was something in it for you, for you to go and find another guy willing to have sex with her,' Cunningham said. When Hart couldn't recall what he felt, Cunningham continued to press him about why he cared about whether a woman who was a stranger to him wanted to have sex with other men — and why he took steps to get someone else into the room to have sex with her. 'I don't know why,' Hart said. 'I'm going to suggest to you that it's because you wanted to keep the party going,' Cunningham said. 'Maybe,' Hart replied. 'You wanted to keep her there, and doing sexual things, because it was fun for you guys,' Cunningham said.' 'Yeah,' Hart said. 'I mean, she kept asking for guys to come over and have sex with her multiple times throughout the night.' Cunningham showed Hart one of two videos that were taken of E.M. that night, neither of which Hart said he remembered being filmed. She showed the video to Hart, which shows E.M. seated on the ground, smiling, and wiping her eyes (E.M. has testified she had no memory of either video being filmed). That video, filmed at 3:25 a.m., was then shown again. Before doing so, Cunningham asked Hart to listen to what is said in the background at the beginning of the video. Cunningham then asks if he can hear someone say, 'I'll get Fabbs. I'll get Fabbs.' Hart said he did, and identified the voice as his own. Cunningham then questioned Hart about why he would text Fabbro two minutes later telling him to come to the hotel room if he found the situation 'awkward' or 'weird,' as he has previously testified. 'So you wanted your friend Dante Fabbro to come in and experience the awkwardness?' Cunningham asked. Advertisement Hart reiterated that Fabbro was single, and that he doesn't recall how he felt. Cunningham suggested that the men in the room weren't uncomfortable — and didn't feel shock or horror — but rather acted like they 'couldn't believe their luck' to have 'a naked woman performing sex acts on anyone who wants them.' 'Yeah, I mean for myself, I was 19,' Hart agreed. 'I thought it was pretty cool.' Prior to showing Hart the videos, Cunningham asked why someone would ever need to film videos — one in which E.M. answers she is 'OK' when asked and another in which she says it 'was all consensual' — if there was any doubt about whether what happened was consensual. Hart pushed back, saying that 'lots of professional athletes have done those things before.' Throughout her cross-examination on Friday, Cunningham spent significant time exploring the gaps in Hart's memory, which she suggested comprised more than half of the time he was in the room; Hart has previously testified he spent approximately one hour in the room before leaving. She also pointed out inconsistencies in his testimony and suggested that he was not being truthful about certain things he said he could not remember. Cunningham suggested he remembered but chose not to name McLeod as someone that encouraged him to receive oral sex (he said he remembers other players saying 'You do it. You do it' but couldn't recall who said it), that he remembered but did not name which player he made eye contact with while receiving oral sex. Cunningham also argued that the nature of Foote doing the splits over E.M. was an attempt at tea-bagging — dunking a person's genitals in someone's face or mouth — despite Hart's assertions that it was not inherently sexual in nature. Hart testified previously that Foote was fully clothed, did not make physical contact with E.M. and that E.M. was 'laughing' about it afterward. Advertisement Cunningham also questioned whether he could reliably recall whether he acted in a way consistent with his testimony. Hart testified on Thursday, saying he was excited and 'open' to the possibility of engaging in a 'three-way' with McLeod and recalled receiving oral sex from E.M. He said he would have stopped any 'disrespectful' or 'degrading' behavior had he witnessed it. Hart said he didn't remember Dubé playing with a golf club or performing a fake putt near E.M. while she was on the ground, but conceded that 'it could have' caused him concern. Hart said he didn't know if he'd consider it disrespectful. He also said he didn't recall Dubé slapping E.M. on the buttocks; others have testified about him doing so. Hart agreed that such an interaction also could have been disrespectful, if it hurt or 'if she was not OK with it.' — The Athletic's Dan Robson contributed reporting remotely from Toronto. (Courtroom sketch of Carter Hart on the witness stand by Alexandra Newbould / The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Times
5 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Potential of a surprise Crown witness sparks courtroom spat at Hockey Canada trial
LONDON, Ont. – Prosecutors have introduced the possibility of a surprise player witness in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial. In an animated exchange at the end of Wednesday's proceedings, Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham told Justice Maria Carroccia that the Crown was 'nearing the end' of its case but that there were some 'late-breaking events' about an additional witness who may be called, prompting defense attorney Megan Savard to object to the timing. Advertisement 'Sorry, Your Honor,' Savard said. 'This was, I think, the first we're hearing that this is not the Crown's last witness.' Savard said that the defense was just learning about this development and asked the Crown to make a decision by the end of Wednesday's proceedings to provide the defense ample notice to prepare its own evidence. Carroccia rejected that bid from Savard, stating that Cunningham was 'entitled to think about that.' Cunningham pushed back on Savard's complaint of late notice, stating that she had sent an email to defense attorneys on Tuesday about the potential availability of a player who had recently returned to Canada. 'It's simply not true that this is the first time she's heard of that,' Cunningham said. Savard argued that the player hadn't even yet been subpoenaed. Cunningham fired back that he had, which elicited a stern response from Carroccia: 'OK, all right, enough,' the justice said. 'Enough.' Cunningham said she will have more information about whether the Crown will call that player as a witness, or conclude its case, Thursday morning. The heated back-and-forth ended a day in which retired London Police sergeant Stephen Newton took the stand again, shedding significant light into the 2018 police investigation of allegations that members of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman in a London, Ont., hotel room while they were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their championship run. That testimony centered around the investigative efforts he made throughout the course of the police probe, as well as the avenues he did not pursue. Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote are each accused of sexual assault. All five players pleaded not guilty in the trial, which is now in its sixth week. Advertisement The complainant in the case, known as E.M. because her name is protected by a publication ban, said she was degraded, humiliated, slapped and spit on by players who encouraged her to perform a number of what she described as non-consensual sexual acts over the course of several hours. She said the players, who had golf clubs, also told her to insert a golf club and golf balls in her vagina, and that she felt vulnerable and scared throughout the course of the night. Newton said he never felt he had grounds to support a finding that she was too intoxicated or incapacitated to consent, based on what he observed on both surveillance videos of her entering and leaving the hotel and multiple videos filmed of E.M. in the early-morning hours of June 19, 2018, provided by McLeod's attorneys. Newton also said that he had a concern that there also 'may have been a level of consent given her active involvement.' When asked by the Crown about his investigative efforts, Newton said he obtained surveillance video from Jack's bar where E.M. and the players had been prior to the alleged incident, but did not review those videos. Instead, he said he kept those videos in storage. He also said he did not send the clothes he collected from E.M. for forensic analysis, nor did he send search warrants or production orders for Hockey Canada's investigative records. Newton was the lead detective on the case when E.M. first made a report just days after the alleged incident and until it was closed in February 2019. (The case was later reopened, leading to the current charges.) As part of his time on the stand on Wednesday, the Crown played a videotaped interview Newton did with Formenton in November 2018, approximately five months after his first interview with E.M., and an audio interview with Dubé the following month. Those interviews, which the players agreed to on a voluntary basis after Newton informed them he did not have grounds to charge them with sexual assault, highlighted discrepancies amongst player testimony and provided further insight into Newton's investigative efforts. Advertisement In his interview, Formenton said on the night in question he received a text message from McLeod asking him if he wanted to come back to the hotel to have a three-way. (Newton asked Formenton if he had this message during the interview but moved on after Formenton told him he got a new phone; he never followed up with McLeod about the message.) When he got to the hotel room, Formenton said he encountered E.M. fully clothed and chatting with players. He said she later got undressed and performed oral sex on Hart. He said she was then asking other players to have sex with her but that a bunch of the players 'didn't feel comfortable' having sex in front of each other. 'So I volunteered,' Formenton said. 'But I honestly didn't want to do it in front of guys. I found that very awkward and weird.' Formenton said he had vaginal and oral sex with E.M. in the bathroom. He said that E.M. later performed oral sex on Dubé in the main room for approximately 10 minutes. Asked what he observed as E.M. performed various sexual acts, he said that the other players in the room 'were just sitting there watching.' Multiple players who have testified previously described speaking to one another and 'hanging out' but not watching the acts because they felt 'awkward.' Formenton said he noticed that E.M. was 'embarrassed' at times throughout the night because players didn't want to have sex with her but disputed any notion that she was taken advantage of by anyone. 'I mean, she was instigating pretty much everything that happened,' Formenton told Newton. 'She wanted everything that happened. She had free will to give the oral sex to everyone and our sex was consensual.' Dubé, in his interview with Newton, referenced being the captain of the 2018 team and said that he 'would have controlled the guys' and 'kicked guys out' if he had thought she wasn't able to consent. He said of E.M. that he 'felt like she wanted to be there more than us' and was 'chirping' those who didn't engage with her sexually. Advertisement 'I didn't really want to be there, to be honest,' Dubé said. 'That was kind of not what I'm about. I don't really need that in my life.' Dubé said E.M. performed oral sex on him for 10 to 15 seconds. 'I was just like, no, this isn't good. I don't want to do this,' Dubé said, adding that he stumbled back and off the side of the room with his pants around his ankles. Dubé said it was at this time he suggested to Foote that they both leave the room. Newton asked Dube if he recalled anybody mentioning a golf club, to which he replied: 'Uh, yeah, I had one in my hand,' adding that the players were slated to golf the next day. When questioned further about what he did with the golf club, Dubé said he had it in his hand and E.M. goaded him about whether he was going to play golf or have sex with her. Dubé is accused of slapping E.M. on the buttocks, though Newton did not ask Dubé about this during his interview. In cross-examination, Dubé's attorney, Julie Santarossa, said that Foote previously told Newton in an audio interview that he heard that Dube was touching her butt. When asked why he didn't ask Dubé about this, Newton replied that he may have overlooked it: 'Maybe I missed that,' he said. On Tuesday, McLeod's first police interview from 2018 was shown, revealing differences in at least one key area to defense attorney arguments in the trial. The trial will resume Thursday, at which point, the Crown is expected to share more information about whether it will call an additional witness. — The Athletic's Dan Robson reported from Toronto and The Athletic's Kamila Hinkson reported remotely from Montreal. (Photo by Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press via AP, File)
CTV News
22-05-2025
- CTV News
‘No basis' to find hockey player feigning lack of memory in sex assault trial: judge
A court sketch of Crown Attorney Meaghan Cunningham questioning Brett Howeden who appears virtually in a London, Ont. courtroom. May 20, 2025. (Source: Alexandra Newbould)
Hamilton Spectator
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Numb and on autopilot': Woman details alleged Hockey Canada sex assaults
Warning: This story contains graphic details of alleged sexual assault. After having consensual sex with hockey player Michael McLeod in his London, Ont., hotel room, a woman said she felt uncomfortable, vulnerable and scared as other men she didn't know began filing into the room while she was drunk and naked. Crown Meaghan Cunningham and the complainant, testifying by video. Before long, the woman told a jury on Monday, she was being asked by other players in the room to fondle herself on the floor, to perform oral sex on them as she was slapped and spat on, and to engage in vaginal intercourse. One man, she said, did the splits over her face while she was on the ground, his penis touching her face. She didn't want to do any of it, she insisted during her second day of testimony at the high-profile trial of five professional hockey players accused of sexual assault. But she felt as if her mind had separated from her body amid all the chaos and confusion, and that her body was engaging in the sexual activity in order to keep her safe in an intimidating environment. 'I felt kind of like I was numb and on autopilot and going through the motions,' she testified, 'watching it all happen and not feeling like I was able to control any of it.' McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the woman in the room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018. McLeod, who had met the complainant earlier in the evening at Jack's Bar, has also pleaded not guilty to being a party to a sexual assault for allegedly encouraging his teammates on the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team to engage in sexual activities with the complainant when he knew she wasn't consenting. Text messages sent to the complainant within days of the alleged incident show that McLeod later became aware that police had been called, and he asked the complainant: 'What can you do to make this go away?' The players were in London at the time to attend the Hockey Canada Foundation's annual Gala & Golf fundraising event and to receive their rings for winning the championship. The Crown has alleged that McLeod had vaginal intercourse with the complainant a second time; that Formenton did as well, but in the bathroom; that McLeod, Dubé and Hart obtained oral sex from the complainant, and that it was Foote who did the splits over the complainant's face and his genitals 'grazed' her face. The woman, who was 20 at the time and is now 27, completed her examination-in-chief by Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham on Monday afternoon. She began being cross-examined by McLeod's lawyer, David Humphrey, who probed whether the woman agreed to participate in the police investigation due to pressure from family members and questioned whether one of the reasons she was upset was because she had cheated on her boyfriend that night. 'There was a part of me that definitely did feel like that because I was putting a lot of the blame on myself,' she told Humphrey, whose cross-examination continues Tuesday. 'I blamed myself for getting really drunk and not thinking straight for leaving with McLeod.' In two videos taken by McLeod in the hotel room and shown to the jury, the woman said she was 'OK with this' and that 'It was all consensual.' On Monday, she told the jury it very much wasn't. 'I think this is still a point where my mind is disconnected from my body,' she said under questioning by Cunningham about the 'consensual' video. 'I feel like I'm just saying what they're telling me to say or what they want to hear from me,' she said. Protestors outside the courthouse in London on Friday. For a second day, protesters stood outside the London courthouse's main entrance to show support for the complainant, holding up signs and chanting as the players, their lawyers, and the jury walked by them. Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia told the jury she was looking into whether they could enter the building through a different entrance, while reminding them to only consider the evidence presented in court when deciding this case. 'You should totally disregard what you see as you walk in and out of this building,' she said. The complainant, whose identity is covered by a standard publication ban, told the jury on Friday that she met McLeod at Jack's Bar when she was very drunk, and agreed to go back to his hotel. After they had sex, she said on Monday, she saw McLeod appearing to text on his phone before he left the room. That's when two other men came in while she was still naked on the bed, she said. Michael McLeod films a selfie video with the complainant on the dance floor inside Jack's Bar. 'I was just really shocked by that,' she testified. 'I wasn't expecting that.' She believes she retreated to the bathroom but when she came out, there were even more men in the room. 'I felt really uncomfortable, I was already naked and drunk and feeling really vulnerable,' she testified. 'I didn't really understand why the man I had left (the bar) with had kind of disappeared and left me in that situation ... So I was feeling scared, I didn't know where things were going.' The jury has seen a text McLeod sent to his teammates in a group chat after 2 a.m. on June 19, 2018, about a 'three-way' in his room; Hart replied within minutes: 'I'm in.' The room became more 'amped up' and 'loud' as men gathered, said the complainant. A bedsheet was placed on the floor and she was asked by the men to fondle herself on it. She recalled them making comments about 'putting golf balls in me, in my vagina, and asking if I could take the whole club, put the whole golf club in me.' She said she laughed it off as she didn't know how else to react. 'It just sounded really kind of extreme and painful,' she testified via CCTV from a different room in the courthouse. 'I was kind of worried that that's already what they were asking to see. I didn't know where their minds were going to be for the rest of the night.' While she was on the floor, three men stood over her with their pants lowered, and she found herself on her knees giving them oral sex, she testified. 'They just start putting penises in my face,' she said, confirming under questioning by Cunningham that there had no prior discussion about oral sex. She said that other men in the room were egging each other on. Prosecutors intend to show that the woman was complying because she was surrounded by large men 'I was being told to 'Suck it,' commands like that,' the woman said. 'They were also yelling to 'spit,' and 'spit on it,' and at that point I started feeling someone spitting on my back as well.' She felt like she was 'just watching it all unfold' and wasn't an active participant in what her body was doing, the woman testified. 'I didn't know these men at all, I didn't know how they would react if I did try to say no or try to leave,' she said. 'My mind just kind of shut down and let my body do what it thought it needed to do to keep me safe.' After the oral sex, she was lying down again on the bed sheet when she said a fourth man with his pants off did the splits over her face. 'I didn't know that was about to happen,' she said. 'And he just put his penis on my face in that moment.' She said the men were urging each other to have sex with her, and that she felt she had no choice but to go into the bathroom, where she was followed by a man she later identified to police as Formenton — McLeod's roommate at the hotel that night. They had vaginal intercourse using a condom, she said. 'I just know I got up kind of expecting that this was just another thing I had to do, so I got up and he followed me to the bathroom,' she testified. She said she cried a few times that night and tried to get dressed to leave, but the men would coax her into staying. 'I heard someone say 'Oh, she's crying, don't let her go,'' the woman testified. 'And that's when they would approach me and just try to convince me that this is all fun, this is fine.' Toward the end of the night, the woman said she performed oral sex on McLeod on the bed as other players stood around — 'I thought if I could finish that up, then I could go.' She could hear someone saying 'No phones,' leading her to wonder if anyone had tried to record what was happening. Several people were also slapping her while she was on the bed with McLeod, she said. 'I remembered it was just multiple people and they were just taking turns trying to hit as hard as they could, and I think that did start to hurt at a certain point and I kind of told them to stop that,' she testified. Players eventually began leaving, and the woman recalled having intercourse with McLeod again in the bathroom, describing it as 'just one last thing I needed to do before I had to go.' She said McLeod and Formenton were anxious for her to leave so they could get to sleep, as they had to be up early to play golf. Moments after leaving, she returned looking for a missing ring, but didn't find it and said the two men were unhelpful as they just went back to their beds. As she made her way down to the lobby to take an Uber home, the complainant said she was hit by a wave of emotions, which she believes she had 'blocked' during her time in the room. She called her best friend, but said she thinks she was probably mostly incoherent on the call. The series of messages between Michael McLeod and the complainant. 'I was just crying uncontrollably and didn't know what else to do,' she said. 'I didn't want to be alone.' She returned home, where her mother found her crying in the shower, repeating 'It's all my fault.' Her mother called the police, while her mother's partner called Hockey Canada. McLeod got wind of the police being notified and messaged the complainant after tracking her down on Instagram, asking her to make it go away. At that point, the complainant herself wasn't sure if she wanted to proceed with a criminal investigation. 'I understand that you are embarrassed about what happened,' McLeod told the complainant. 'But you need to talk to your mother right now and straighten things out with the police before this goes too far. This is a serious matter that she is misrepresenting and could have significant implications for a lot of people, including you.' The complainant ultimately told McLeod that she told the police she didn't want to pursue the matter further 'and that it was a mistake. You should be good now hopefully nothing more comes of it. Sorry again for the misunderstanding.' But the complainant did pursue the matter with the police, telling the jury on Monday she sent that response to McLeod so that he would leave her alone. 'I appreciate you telling the truth,' McLeod told the woman in his final text to her. 'Thank you all the best.'
Toronto Sun
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
LIVE UPDATES: Second NHLer testifies at Hockey Canada sexual assault trial
Crown Meaghan Cunningham, right, and Taylor Raddysh, depicted in video conference, are seen in a courtroom sketch in London, Ont., Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Raddysh, who currently plays in the National Hockey League, was a member of the 2018 Canadian national junior hockey team. Photo by Alexandra Newbould / The Canadian Press NHL player Taylor Raddysh testified remotely Friday morning at the trial of five teammates from Canada's gold-winning 2018 world junior hockey team who are charged with sexual assault. He was followed by Boris Katchouk, another member of that national team. Follow below for live updates from the London courthouse This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Editorial Cartoons Canada Toronto Maple Leafs Canada Sunshine Girls
