Latest news with #MeganSavard
New York Times
28-05-2025
- 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)
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
E.M. fights back in contentious cross-examination during Hockey Canada trial
LONDON, Ont. – A day after leaving court early in tears, E.M. — the complainant in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial — returned to the stand with renewed vigor, at times sparring with veteran defense attorney Megan Savard. It was the fourth straight day E.M. faced cross-examination from defense attorneys of the five former members for the 2018 Canadian World Junior team who face charges of sexual assault stemming from the alleged incident while players were in London, Ont., for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their 2018 World Juniors championship. Advertisement Through the entirety of her cross-examination, E.M. is not able to consult with a lawyer. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote sat at separate tables beside their attorneys as E.M. appeared on CCTV from another room in the courthouse. All five players have pleaded not guilty. On Thursday morning, Savard — defense attorney for Hart — continued the cross-examination that was cut short when E.M. grew flustered and broke into tears the previous afternoon. The proceedings featured a combative back-and-forth between the witness and the defense as they discussed discrepancies in E.M.'s current memory of the evening and past statements she made when interviewed by police and in a Hockey Canada investigation into the allegations. E.M. 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, vaginal sex, and was slapped and spit on. When she tried to leave, E.M. says she was pressured by the men to remain. Savard challenged E.M. on her testimony during the trial that she heard men in the hotel room telling each other not to let her leave as she cried, while heading toward the door. On Thursday, E.M. told Savard she cried at least two times as she tried to leave. But she could not recall the exact wording the men had used when they commented on seeing her cry and attempted to keep her in the room. 'I appreciate the words may not matter to you,' Savard said. 'But it matters to me whether you actually heard someone say 'don't let her go.' Is it fair to say you don't actually remember those words being said?' Advertisement E.M. said she had a memory of the sentiment, but not the exact wording. Savard argued that while E.M. has been clear about feeling like she was not allowed to leave the room, there is a difference between saying 'don't let her leave' and 'don't leave.' E.M. said even though she worded the exchange differently on the stand than she had in past statements, she was trying to express the same thing. Savard suggested that she came up with a 'more criminal' word choice while on the stand than she used when questioned by police in the days after the incident. E.M. disagreed with that assertion, arguing that she had just had a traumatic experience and was not in a proper state of mind to fully explain every small detail while speaking to a stranger. E.M. repeatedly mentioned that she was 20 years old when she spoke to police and was trying to explain what happened as best she could because she had 'never been traumatized before.' 'I'm going to further suggest that the version you told the police in 2018 is a lot less criminal-sounding than the version you told the jury today. Agree with that?' Savard said during one exchange. 'No, I don't, because I think my feelings and sentiments about it remain the same regardless of my word choice,' E.M. replied. Savard then asked whether E.M. agreed that the words she used in 2018 are 'a lot more innocuous' than the words she used this week. 'I think, just since I'm older and more mature and I do have a better understanding of what's happened to me, the word choice I use now does fit exactly how I felt that night,' E.M. said. 'I feel like maybe the word choice (in 2018) doesn't sound as severe, but that doesn't mean that I meant it in a different way.' Later, when again discussing E.M.'s word choices, Savard pointed out that though E.M. was 20 when she spoke to police, she was also halfway through a university degree. Advertisement 'I knew that was going to come up,' E.M. said under her breath. 'Still, after something like this, it's really difficult for me to try and communicate what had just happened,' E.M. said. 'Yes, I was educated, but I'd never been traumatized before, so I didn't know how to respond to that.' Savard and E.M. also had, at times, testy exchanges about whether, at one point that night, E.M. cried in the main room of the hotel, where the other people in the room could see her, or in the bathroom. Savard suggested E.M. never told police she cried in the main room, which she has said during the trial. Savard read from the transcript of E.M.'s 2018 conversation with police, when she said, 'I would get up to go to the bathroom. I would start crying. … I could hear them. They're like, 'oh she, she's crying,' and they were just telling me to come back out.' Those lines corroborated what she had said earlier, that people in the room noticed she was crying, E.M. said. Savard then asked where in the transcript E.M. referred to two or more men saying ''she's crying, don't let her leave.' 'Yes, it's right there, where I say, 'And I could hear them. They're like, oh, she's crying.'' E.M. responded forcefully, as she read from the transcript. 'That's exactly me speaking on what I heard them say,' she said. 'Thank you for finding that.' Later, Savard also pressed E.M. on why she declined to take a urine toxicology test during the sexual assault medical evaluation she was given on June 22, 2018, several days after the incident. E.M. said she was under the impression from the nurses administering the exam that too much time had passed for the test to reveal any drugs that might have been in her system. Previously, E.M. has said that she felt that she might have been drugged, based on a suggestion from her mom when she saw her the morning she returned from the hotel. Advertisement Savard suggested that E.M. had a moderate amount of alcohol before going to the hotel with McLeod. On Thursday afternoon, Daniel Brown — attorney for Alex Formenton — began his cross-examination of E.M. Brown asked E.M. who she was to blame for what happened that night in London. 'You said you're not at fault and that you've never been at fault,' he said. 'I don't agree,' E.M. said. 'The words I was repeating in the shower when my mom found me were, 'It's all my fault.'' When Brown asked if E.M. still felt that way today, she acknowledged that she did feel like that but was trying to move past it. 'Move past that and blame others?' Brown replied. 'You said you blamed yourself for many years about what happened to you. You no longer blame yourself. Who do you blame?' 'I still have some blame,' E.M. said. 'Do you believe that it's easier to deny your deliberate choices than to acknowledge the shame, guilt and embarrassment that you felt about your choices?' Brown asked. 'I'm not sure I agree with you,' E.M. replied. 'I have a lot of blame for myself but I think other people should be held accountable for that night.' Brown later pushed E.M. on whether she felt responsible for the amount of alcohol she consumed and suggested that she drank to unleash an 'alter-ego' who acted on her impulses and made decisions that she wouldn't make while sober. Brown laid out decisions E.M. made on her own accord. 'It was your choice to get drunk?' Brown asked. E.M. acknowledged it was. 'I should be allowed to do that and not worry about having something bad happen,' she said. In the last hour of the afternoon, the thumping bass of music could be heard through courthouse walls as a crowd gathered for a street party ahead of a London Knights game. The bricked road between the Ontario Court of Justice and the Budweiser Center, where the major junior team plays, was closed off for a street party. Court adjourned early. E.M.'s cross-examination will continue on Friday. — The Athletic's Kamila Hinkson contributed reporting remotely from Montreal. (Photo of Carter Hart and his attorney Megan Savard outside the courthouse recently in London, Ont., by Geoff Robins / The Canadian Press via AP)
