Complainant Questioned on Surveillance Video Evidence at Hockey Sexual Assault Trial

Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault.

LONDON, Ontario — On Friday, the complainant in the sexual assault trial involving five former NHL players faced scrutiny over her memory concerning who paid for her drinks at a bar before the alleged incident in June 2018.

The woman, identified in court documents as “E.M.” due to a publication ban on her name, testified via CCTV from another location within the courthouse. She was questioned by Daniel Brown, the lawyer representing Alex Formenton.

In previous statements to police in 2018 and a Hockey Canada investigation in 2022, E.M. had stated she bought herself two shots at Jack`s bar on the night of June 18-19, 2018, but did not pay for other drinks later that evening.

Brown presented surveillance videos which appeared to show her paying for additional drinks after the initial two purchased by her and a friend.

“You said you got it wrong in 2022 because you hadn’t looked at your 2018 statement,” Brown challenged E.M. “Why did you say that in 2018?”

E.M. responded, “I don’t recall saying I didn’t buy my own drinks. I said for the large portion of the night I wasn’t paying for drinks.”

Brown also questioned E.M. why she had not previously mentioned a high school friend who worked as a bouncer at Jack`s. Surveillance footage reportedly shows them sharing a “side-hug” and having a conversation near the ATMs at the back of the bar.

Brown implied E.M. omitted mentioning her bouncer friend because it might weaken her account about others buying her drinks. He also suggested the bouncer could have offered assistance if she felt she was in trouble with the group of men at any point.

She replied, “I try to handle my own issues. The thought didn’t occur to me.”

E.M. stated there were other reasons she hadn`t mentioned the friendship with the bouncer in her earlier statements.

“He would have no idea about what happened later on in the room,” she said. “I was really embarrassed about what happened to me and I didn’t want anyone I knew to know what had happened to me.”

Brown repeatedly pressed E.M. on her answers, urging her to respond only to the question asked and avoid further explanation, a tactic common among the defence counsel. He similarly challenged answers like “I don’t know” or “I don’t recall.”

Assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham objected several times to this approach, indicating that E.M. had already provided an answer.

“You’re trying to make me second guess everything I’m saying,” E.M. told Brown. “I am giving you my truth. You push me for an answer. I say, ‘I don’t know,’ you try to discredit me. I say something else, you try to discredit me.”

Brown later followed up with, “That was your truth, but not the truth, right?”

E.M. maintained that she attempted her best during the 2018 interview to assist police with her recollections of conversations with Michael McLeod, Brett Howden, and others present that night.

“I don’t recall any conversations. I was really drunk,” said E.M., who underwent cross-examination by three lawyers this week. “Just not your problem, right? It’s these boys’ problem?” Brown stated, prompting Cunningham to object, calling the comment “not appropriate.”

Justice Maria Carroccia agreed, and Brown apologized for his remark.

McLeod, aged 27, faces two counts of sexual assault, including one charge related to aiding in the offence. Dillon Dube, 26, Cal Foote, 26, Formenton, 25, and Carter Hart, 26, are each charged with one count of sexual assault. All have entered pleas of not guilty.

For the fifth consecutive day, a larger group of protestors gathered on the courthouse steps to greet the players as they entered. CBC reported that lawyer Brown was subjected to heckling upon his arrival.

Brown`s cross-examination is scheduled to resume Monday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Lawyers representing Dube and Foote are also expected to cross-examine E.M. next week.