Latest news with #sexualassaulttrial
New York Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Brett Howden, defense attorney clash during pointed cross-examination
LONDON, Ont. – During cross-examination on Tuesday, Brett Howden was accused by the defense of minimizing his interactions with the complainant in the hours before the alleged incident at the center of the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial and lying about a phone call he said he had with a teammate about the matter. Advertisement In a pointed back and forth, Julianna Greenspan, attorney for Cal Foote, suggested that Howden, now a member of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, purposely withheld information from investigators to avoid further scrutiny of his own actions. Dillon Dubé, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton and Foote are each accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the early hours of June 19, 2018, after a Hockey Canada gala in London, Ont., where team members gathered to celebrate their 2018 World Juniors championship run. All five players pleaded not guilty in the trial, which is now in its sixth week. Howden, a key Crown witness in the case, was the first member of the 2018 Hockey Canada world junior team to interact with the complainant at Jack's bar the night of the incidents. After dancing with the woman — known in this trial as E.M. — he introduced her to McLeod. On Monday, Greenspan showed Howden surveillance video from the bar and pressed him repeatedly to acknowledge he slapped E.M. on the buttocks multiple times. Howden dug in and even after Greenspan showed him the video two additional times, with a portion of the video slowed down, maintained that he slapped her only once. As Greenspan's cross-examine of Howden continued on Tuesday, she pressed him further about his own actions the night of the incidents at the center of this trial, suggesting that Howden had minimized his interactions with E.M. at the bar in past interviews with both Hockey Canada and police investigators. In July 2018, Howden told Hockey Canada investigator Danielle Robitaille that E.M. was just 'part of a mixture with a bunch of girls on the dance floor.' When Greenspan pressed Howden on that characterization, he said that he was responding to short surveillance clips of a long night. 'A few minutes with someone who ends up in room 209, right?' Greenspan asked. 'A few minutes of direct, very close dancing contact.' Advertisement 'Yeah, but I've also never seen this girl in my life,' Howden said. 'And on the dance floor at the bar, you can tell that it's obviously dark. … I don't think it's fair that a couple minutes out of a whole night that you just expect me to know this girl that I've met for the first time in my lifetime.' 'Things aren't fair, are they Mr. Howden?' Greenspan asked, prompting the Crown to object about the basis of the question. Greenspan suggested to Howden that he knew about his contact with E.M. at the bar when he talked to Hockey Canada investigators. 'No I'm not going to accept that, because like I told you it was a long night,' Howden said. 'And I don't know how I could remember exact moments of a multiple-hour night.' Greenspan continued to press Howden about his 'direct and repeat contact' with E.M., describing his evidence as a 'false memory' to which Howden said that he had been drinking over the course of a 'long night.' 'I was being as honest as I could,' Howden said. 'I'm going to suggest that you did know,' Greenspan said. 'You did know exactly and at least until you find out about Hockey Canada and police getting involved, you never thought for a second that there was anything wrong with what happened. Agree or no?' 'No, I didn't think I did anything wrong that night,' Howden said. 'And knowing what you did on the dance floor, knowing what happened at Jack's bar, and everything else, you never thought that there was any problem with your behavior, right?' Greenspan asked. 'Yeah, correct,' Howden said. Howden was also accused by Greenspan of making up a phone call in which he said he was asked by Foote not to mention him or his actions to Hockey Canada investigators. Greenspan suggested that once Howden learned about the 2022 lawsuit filed by E.M. against Hockey Canada and the allegations contained therein, he offered up an interaction with Foote because he felt he 'had to give some explanation' for not mentioning anything about Foote in the investigations previously. Advertisement Howden disputed that and said he was speaking truthfully about the phone call when he relayed the information to investigators. The Crown, in re-examination, referenced Howden previously sharing specific details about that phone call, in which he told investigators he remembers telling Foote that he didn't see what allegedly happened between Foote and E.M. in the hotel room. Foote is accused of doing the splits over E.M. while she was laying on the ground and grazing his genitals over her face. The Crown also referenced previous testimony Howden gave that his call with Dubé put him in a difficult position with Hockey Canada investigators because he said he views himself as an 'honest person.' Howden's time on the stand ended Tuesday morning. The Crown will next call retired London Police sergeant Stephen Newton as a witness. The Athletic's Dan Robson contributed reporting from Toronto. (Photo by Don Emmert / AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Hurricanes' impossible, no-good, very bad streak
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Be better than the Rockies today. Two sports, two playoff series, two blowouts. Again. But on this night, these routs were more intriguing, particularly in the NHL, where the Carolina Hurricanes extended a streak I can't believe is real: More playoff action tonight, which we detail below. Let's pause for something more somber: Burbling in the background of both the NHL and NBA playoffs has been the sexual assault trial of five former NHL players, tied to a 2018 incident when all were members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team. First, the basics: The trial has been lengthy and intense. Two juries have been selected and subsequently dismissed due to procedural issues. Though all of the accused are out of the NHL for now, current NHL players are being called as witnesses. Golden Knights center Brett Howden's testimony has been the source of particular interest. Advertisement We've had multiple reporters on the ground in Ontario providing excellent coverage of the trial, which could extend for months after the final jury was tossed. I caught up with Dan Robson for a quick Q&A about the case: From the outside, the trial seems dramatic and ever-changing. What's the tenor like in the courtroom? 💬 It's a strange mix of tense, routine and surreal. Every day feels heavy. We shuffle in and out amid grave and graphic evidence, in tight quarters, unsure of what sideshow act will derail the proceedings next. The future of the trial appears unknown, too. Do you have a feel for when we could possibly see a resolution? 💬 It's unclear. We are in week five of the two months allotted for the trial. The feeling is that everything will move much more quickly without a jury, and that there will be fewer unexpected twists. But even after all the evidence is presented and tested, the verdicts may take some time. Thank you to Dan, who's been doing excellent work. We'll have more as the trial develops. Let's keep moving: CFP changes format The College Football Playoff will now seed teams by ranking alone, veering from last year's format after just one try. Conference champions will no longer get a bye, meaning teams like Boise State and Arizona State last year would've been in tougher spots. Also, it sounds like we don't even know what the 2026 Playoff will look like. Full context here. Leafs can Shanahan After 11 years in charge, team president Brendan Shanahan is out in Toronto, ending one of the most frustrating runs in franchise history. The Maple Leafs have made the postseason nine consecutive years — good! — but have won just two playoff series in that entire run — bad! Shanahan figures to be a leading candidate to take the Islanders' top hockey job, while it's unclear how or if Toronto will replace him. The book about this period will be good, but depressing. Hendriks details death threats Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks, who returned to MLB this season after missing most of the last two years due to cancer and Tommy John surgery, said on Instagram yesterday that he and his wife have received death threats from fans after bad outings. 'Leaving comments telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer is disgusting and vile,' the reliever wrote. See his full comments here. Advertisement More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. Space runs short today, so we're keeping this quick. The Pulse Flag Football Defense is: CB: Patrick Surtain II CB: Derek Stingley Jr. S: Kyle Hamilton S: Xavier McKinney Rusher: Micah Parsons I have no qualms with any of these. Thank you for all your write-ins, too, but I want to focus on one name: Travis Hunter, who could be uniquely positioned to play on this team with his two-way talent. I am equally fascinated to see what his splits are in the NFL by 2028. The Pulse is winning gold. Thank you for voting. 📺 NBA: Pacers at Knicks 8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max If we get anywhere close to the Game 1 performance here, it'll be incredible. Just watch it. 📺 NHL: Oilers at Stars 8 p.m. ET on ESPN Very, very funny that Edmonton, the team famous for making late comebacks in the postseason, got bitten by its own bug in Game 1. Let's see if things change here. Get tickets to games like these here. David Ubben ranked the best 25 college football games of the 2000s. While I'd offer some better LSU examples, I'll save my gripes this time. See the full list. In baseball, we also have a stirring list: Jayson Stark's picks for the MLB All-Quarter Century Team. If you disagree, you can pick your own here. Would the Pirates actually trade Paul Skenes? The team says no, but Ken Rosenthal explored the notion anyway. Tantalizing. I thought this was a great look at that Tottenham-Manchester United Europa League final from Wednesday: fast, furious and laughably bad. Vanderbilt is taking a cue from the Premier League as it tries to get ahead of revenue sharing. Interesting story. Make sure you're subscribed to Prime Tire so you don't miss a great breakdown of the Indy 500 scandal later today. Advertisement Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Jim Irsay's obituary. Most-read on the website yesterday: James Edwards III's incredible story inside the biggest Knicks collapse ever. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In the news today: Liberals win Quebec riding by one vote in recount
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Liberals win Quebec riding by one vote in recount With more recounts still to come, the Liberals are another seat closer to a majority government after a judicial recount saw them narrowly win the Quebec riding of Terrebonne. A judicial recount of the riding north of Montreal saw the Liberals win the the riding by one vote and now gives them 170 seats in Parliament. The announcement comes as more recounts are underway, including two in Ontario. One of those ridings is Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, where a judicial recount was granted after incumbent Liberal Irek Kusmierczyk argued several ballots were "wrongly rejected" after validation showed he lost to Conservative challenger Kathy Borrelli by 77 votes. The other Ontario seat, located in the Greater Toronto area, has Kristina Tesser Derksen is ahead of Conservative Parm Gill by 29 votes in Milton East—Halton Hills South. An automatic recount there will happen May 13. Here's what else we're watching... Hockey players' sexual assault trial continues Defence lawyers in the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team are expected to continue cross-examining the complainant today. The woman, who cannot be identified under a publication ban, first took the stand on May 2 and spent most of last week facing questions from the defence. On Friday, she pushed back against a defence suggestion that she was embarrassed and ashamed for the choices she'd made the night of the alleged incident. She said she made the choice to drink and dance at the London, Ont., bar where she first met some of the accused, not to "have them do what they did back at the hotel." Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in connection with an encounter that took place at the Delta hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018. Ontario hospitals spent $9B on agencies: study Ontario hospitals spent more than $9 billion on nurses and other staff from for-profit agencies in a 10-year period, a new study concludes. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study, released Monday, examined financial statements for 134 Ontario hospital corporations as well as data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. It found that from 2013-14 to 2022-23 public hospital spending on staff increased six per cent, but their spending on private agencies increased 98 per cent. Study author Andrew Longhurst also found that while the number of hours worked by agency staff in Ontario hospitals accounted for 0.4 per cent of all front-line worker hours in 2022-23, six per cent of hospitals' labour costs went toward the private staff. Hospitals turn to staffing agencies for qualified workers that can fill shifts on a temporary basis, but agencies charge double or even triple the regular hourly rate for their staff and hospitals want to reduce their reliance on them. Skydiving instructor dies in Alberta: RCMP RCMP say a skydiver has died in a weekend accident west of Edmonton. Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said police were called to a township road near Onoway on Saturday morning, where he said a 56-year-old man from Edmonton suffered fatal injuries following a jump from a plane. He said the man was a skydiving instructor. Skydiving West Edmonton said in a statement that an "experienced skydiver" succumbed to his injuries as a result of "a high-speed malfunction" on Saturday morning. At this point Savinkoff said the death appears to have been an accident and does not appear suspicious, but he said RCMP, workplace safety officials and the Chief Medical Examiner's Office continue to investigate. Leafs waste Woll's performance in Game 4 loss Joseph Woll did everything he could to hold the line. The Maple Leafs goaltender stretched, contorted and sprawled to make save after save against the Panthers' onslaught. His teammates weren't close to that level. Woll stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced Sunday in Toronto's stifling 2-0 loss to Florida that evened the teams' second-round playoff series 2-2. The Leafs, who fell 5-4 in overtime two nights earlier, again had a chance to push the defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink, but instead were second-best most of the night — other than their netminder. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025, The Canadian Press
CTV News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Cross-examination of Michael Thompson can continue in sex assault case: Judge
Toronto councillor Michael Thompson and his lawyer Leora Shemesh walk outside the courthouse in Barrie, Ont. Thursday, May 8, 2025. (Mike Arsalides/ CTV News Barrie) A judge has ruled that the Crown can continue its cross examination of Coun. Michael Thompson in his sexual assault trial. Following some intense debate between Crown attorney Mareike Newhouse and Defence lawyer Leora Shemesh in a virtual court appearance Friday, Judge Phillip Brissette said he's satisfied that Newhouse can continue her cross-examination. The debate hinged on whether a woman who is a witness in the case, was being treated more like a complainant by the Crown, and whether questions about her were relevant to the case. Following hours of questioning Thursday, Newhouse incorrectly referred to the woman as a victim and said that Thompson had been 'trying to get in her pants.' Shemesh said Thursday that there was a strong chance she might bring a mistrial application over the matter. But after nearly 30 minutes of arguments Friday, that option appeared to have been laid aside. After Newhouse said she misspoke in referring to the witness as 'a victim' and clarified her line of questioning, Bisette said he was satisfied that she should be able to move forward. 'I'm certainly satisfied with the direction the Crown wants to go in terms of using this for general credibility and not linking it to any type of propensity or similar fact allegations,' he said. Thompson, a longtime city councillor and former deputy mayor, stands accused of sexually assaulting two women at a cottage getaway over the Canada Day long weekend in 2022. He denies the allegations. The trial will resume on May 29 when the cross examination of Thompson is expected to continue.
