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New York Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Judge in Hockey Canada case delivers another blow to critical piece of evidence for Crown
LONDON, Ont. – Justice Maria Carroccia ruled Monday morning that a key piece of evidence in the Crown's case will not be admissible in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial. It was the second failed attempt to have the text included. Carroccia determined that a text message sent from Brett Howden, a member of the 2018 Canadian World Junior hockey team, to teammate Taylor Raddysh on June 26, 2018 about Dillon Dubé slapping the buttocks of the complainant in the case would not be allowed as 'hearsay evidence' based on what she described as a lack of 'reliability.' Advertisement 'I have concerns regarding the accuracy of the statement,' Carroccia said. In explaining her decision, Carroccia said that unlike traditional statements, Howden did not send the text under oath or while being recorded and that he was 'scared,' 'nervous' and 'not attempting to be factual' at the time he sent the message. Howden, a Crown witness, previously testified that he sent the message after learning that Hockey Canada was investigating allegations that a number of players sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman over the span of several hours in a London, Ont. hotel room in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018. The text message was previously ruled out as 'past recollection recorded' following an application from the Crown to have the communication considered. The text between Howden and Raddysh, his roommate during the weekend of the Hockey Canada golf and gala celebration to celebrate their team's 2018 World Juniors championship run in London, Ont., read: 'Dude, I'm so happy I left when all that sh– went down. Ha, ha … 'Man, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl's ass so hard. It looked like it hurt so bad.' During this testimony Howden has said that he did not remember the incidents described in his texts, but believed he was being truthful when he wrote them. He told Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham that he 'had no reason to lie' at the time. According to the Crown's case, Dubé slapped E.M.'s naked buttocks while she was engaged in a sexual act with another person. The Crown also says that Michael McLeod, Carter Hart and Dillon Dubé all obtained oral sex from E.M. without her consent, that Alex Formenton had vaginal sex with E.M. without her consent and that Cal Foote did the splits over her as she laid on the ground, grazing his genitals over her face. Advertisement E.M. said these incidents took place as she was sexually assaulted by the five players over the span of several hours in a London hotel room in June 2018. In her testimony, she described being spit on, slapped, degraded and coerced into a number of sexual acts. All five have pleaded not guilty. Howden will continue on the stand Monday morning as he's cross-examined by the defense teams for the five players who are charged. — The Athletic's Dan Robson reported remotely from Toronto. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
CBC
23-05-2025
- CBC
Judge rules NHLer's text message inadmissible at London sexual assault trial
The judge in the sexual assault trial of five former world junior hockey players has ruled that a text message exchange between former teammates Brett Howden and Taylor Raddysh shortly after the alleged sexual assault in 2018 is inadmissible as evidence.
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Judge rules against Crown's bid to have Brett Howden's text admitted
A text message sent by Brett Howden to a teammate describing Dillion Dubé smacking the complainant in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial is not admissible as evidence, the judge in the high-profile case ruled on Friday. Justice Maria Carroccia denied the Crown's request to have admitted as evidence a text sent by Howden to Taylor Raddysh on June 26, 2018, in which he described relief having left a London, Ont., hotel room after a woman was slapped on the buttocks by Dubé. Advertisement 'Dude, I'm so happy I left when all that sh– went down. Ha, ha,' Howden wrote to Taylor Raddysh, also adding, 'Man, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl's ass so hard. It looked like it hurt so bad.' Howden and Raddysh were roommates at the hotel, where they stayed during a Hockey Canada gala and golf tournament. Neither Howden — now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights — nor Raddysh, who plays for the Washington Capitals, are accused of wrongdoing. After Howden was unable to recall the events described in the text message during testimony earlier this week, Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham appealed to have it included as evidence as 'past recollection recorded.' The prosecution and defense attorneys for the five accused former members of the 2018 World Junior team charged with sexual assault argued over its admissibility during a voir dire hearing on Thursday. In her ruling on Friday, Carroccia said that though the text message met several criteria for 'past recollection recorded' — it was timely, Howden believed he was being honest when he wrote it, but could not remember sending it — it could not be admitted because its reliability and accuracy could not be proved. 'This is a text message sent to a friend during a casual conversation. It is not a statement made under oath,' she said. Howden is a key witness in the Crown's case against the five former members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the early hours of June 19, 2018, while in London, Ont., for a Hockey Canada gala and golf tournament. Dubé, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote have all pleaded not guilty. The Crown says that McLeod, Hart and Dubé all obtained oral sex from E.M. without her consent, and that Formenton had vaginal sex with E.M. without her consent. The Crown has also told the jury that Dubé slapped E.M.'s naked buttocks while she was engaged in a sexual act with another person, and that Foote did the splits and grazed his genitals over her face as she laid on the ground. Advertisement On Thursday, Howden recalled being shocked when he read the contents of his text exchange with Raddysh during a later Hockey Canada investigation. He said he could not recall sending those messages. But he told Cunnigham that he had 'no reason to lie' at the time. Howden's fuzzy memory has been a topic of heated discussion since Tuesday, when he first appeared on the stand as the Crown witness. Despite having access to transcripts from past statements he made to Hockey Canada investigators and police, Howden repeatedly said he couldn't recall details about the alleged incident. That prompted Cunningham to accuse him of being dishonest about his lack of memory. After a voir dire hearing over a Canada Evidence Act application by the Crown to be able to cross-examine its own witness, Carroccia ruled that she did not believe Howden was feigning a lack of memory — but that there were some inconsistencies he could be further questioned on. The Crown then brought its application to have Howden's texts admitted as 'past recollection recorded,' which essentially means that past statements can be admitted when a witness cannot remember making them (if they meet specific criteria). After that application was rejected on Friday, the Crown appealed to have the text messages included through a hearsay application, to admit an out-of-court statement as truthful so it can be considered as evidence. Legal arguments between the Crown and defense have been heard throughout the morning session. The trial continues next week. (Courtroom sketch of Justice Maria Carroccia sitting before several of the defendants earlier in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial in London, Ont., by Alexandra Newbould / The Canadian Press via AP)
Globe and Mail
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Globe and Mail
Former teammate of accused Canadian junior players breaks down crying at trial
Crown witness Brett Howden – who was in the London, Ont. hotel room where five of his former world junior teammates allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in June, 2018 – broke down crying under questioning by a defence lawyer Thursday. Mr. Howden, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, became emotional during a series of questions from defence lawyer Lisa Carnelos about his state of mind in the days after the alleged assault, when he was thinking about having to explain the situation to his family and then-girlfriend. 'I was very nervous when all this was – when all this was going on,' he said. 'That was one of the hardest things to go through was explaining this to my family.' Mr. Howden, who now plays in the NHL for the Vegas Golden Knights, told Ms. Carnelos he was particularly scared to tell his dad. He said he knew he hadn't been involved in the alleged assault – court has heard he was in the room during some sexual acts – but it was still stressful. Ms. Carnelos was questioning Mr. Howden about his mindset at this time because court has heard that on June 26, 2018 – a week after the alleged assault at the Delta Armouries hotel – Mr. Howden and his former teammate Taylor Raddysh had a lengthy text exchange about what transpired in the hotel room and the fallout. The Crown has made an application to have part of the conversation entered into evidence, including a message in which Mr. Howden wrote: 'Dude I'm so happy I left … Man, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl's ass so hard. Like, it looked like it hurt so bad.' Court has heard that 'Duber' refers to Dillon Dubé, one of the five hockey players on trial. He, along with Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote, has been charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged attack on a complainant known publicly as E.M. in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018. Mr. McLeod faces a second charge of being a party to sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty. On Thursday, Mr. Howden appeared in court remotely and was questioned as part of what's called a voir dire. This is a trial within a trial, in which Justice Carroccia has been asked to decide on the admissibility of certain evidence, such as the text exchanges. Under questioning from Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham, Mr. Howden told the court he remembered texting Mr. Raddysh but not specifically what was said. Asked about the veracity of those texts, he told the court: 'I had no reason to lie.' 'Do you believe that you were being truthful in what you said in those messages to Mr. Raddysh,' Ms. Cunningham asked. 'Yeah, I believe I was being truthful,' he said. Ms. Carnelos asserted that Mr. Howden was in 'self-preservation mode' when he sent Mr. Raddysh those texts and questioned whether he was checking the messages for accuracy before sending. To this, Mr. Howden repeated that he didn't believe he had any reason to lie, but added that it was a difficult and stressful time and it's possible some things are inaccurate in the text exchange, which is 10 pages long. Ms. Carnelos asked Mr. Howden whether he was worried about consequences for his professional hockey career in the days after the alleged assault. He said that hadn't crossed his mind yet – that he was more worried about Hockey Canada's investigation of the incident. 'I never thought it would – would come to what it has now.'
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Time of India
Chilling details of the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal emerge as the complainant takes the stand
(Image via Getty: Taylor Raddysh) The complainant addressed as E.M. in the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal has been under cross-examination for five days now. She shares her side of the story from another room via CCTV. The CCTV footage is displayed on a large screen in the main courtroom. Her identity is protected by a publication ban that applies in cases of sexual assault. 'I made the choice to dance with them and drink at the bar and not make the choice to have them do what they did to me at the hotel,' shared E.M. Defence presses complainant on memory, drinking at jr. hockey sexual assault trial On May 7, Robyn Doolittle , Globe and Mail Reporter, shared via X, 'One of the defense lawyers involved in the sexual assault trial of five former world junior hockey players has alleged it was the complainant who asked his client, Michael McLeod , to invite his teammates to the hotel room where the alleged attack occurred.' Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Lost Their Money - Learn From Their Lesson Expertinspector Click Here Undo Videos appear to show the complainant in the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal giving consent Trigger warning: content contains graphic details of sexual assault. On May 12, CBC News reported that the Crown has said consent is at the heart of the case, arguing the men, on many occasions, did not get specific go-head from E.M. for sexual activity despite videos taken that evening that appear to show her giving consent. E.M. has testified the men asked her to masturbate while they watched, received oral sex, spat on her, smacked her butt, and had vaginal sex with her. E.M. also shared that she was an unwilling participant who had drunk too much that evening. She agreed with the defense lawyer that she adopted a porn-star persona to get through what was happening with the men as her mind floated above her body. CNN reported that, during a cross-examination last week, Daniel Brown, Alex Formenton's lawyer, told E.M. at one point, 'Your truth changes from 2018, to 2022 to 2025.' 'No, my truth hasn't changed,' replied E.M. The complainant said some of her details or memories may vary slightly, but the gist of her story remains the same. Washington Capitals forward Taylor Raddysh only heard a bit of hooting and hollering from Michael McLeod's room at the Delta Armouries Hotel On May 9, Hockey News Reporter Anthony Fava shared with CBC Listen (CBC Live Radio) - Topic: Day 6 - Woman at the centre of the junior hockey sexual assault trial faces a difficult and lengthy cross-examination, Testimony underway in Hockey Canada sexual-assault trial 'He(Taylor Raddysh) expressed that when he was in the room, he wasn't involved in any of the actual alleged assault or anything of that nature. We do know at least from his testimony that he didn't give in by any means to this request or anything like that. But his room was directly beside McLeod's room at the Delta Armouries Hotel. But he says he didn't hear anything besides a bit of hooting and hollering, I believe is what he said.' Also read: The jury saw the surveillance footage of hockey players from the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal | NHL News - The Times of India
