Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault.
LONDON, Ont. — During the trial of five former NHL players facing sexual assault charges related to an alleged incident in June 2018, Cal Foote`s defense lawyer on Tuesday questioned the complainant regarding her use of language in her testimony.
The complainant, identified as “E.M.” under a publication ban, testified via CCTV from another location within the courthouse. This was her seventh day of cross-examination by Julianna Greenspan, representing Cal Foote.
Greenspan specifically asked E.M. why she used the terms “boys” or “boy” when referring to the accused in her initial police statement in June 2018, but now uses “men” or “man” during her court testimony.
E.M. responded, stating, “They were at least 18, 19; they were men.”
Greenspan pressed further, “Not once, not one single time, did you use ‘man’ or ‘men’ in June 2018 to refer to these individuals?”
E.M. confirmed, “That’s right, it’s not how I spoke back then. That was seven years ago. Their ages make them men. Just because I called them boys doesn’t change the fact that their age makes them men.”
Greenspan suggested, “The reason why you have so carefully changed your language is because you have come into this trial with a clear agenda.”
“Absolutely not,” E.M. countered. “I’m older now, I understand more, they were men.”
Greenspan also questioned E.M.`s assertion that she did not know the men she met at Jack’s bar in London were members of the Canadian World Junior hockey team. The lawyer highlighted E.M.`s background, including working at a sporting goods store in June 2018, having a brother and cousins who played hockey, and a father involved in minor hockey, suggesting this contradicted her claim of limited hockey knowledge.
Greenspan further proposed that a bouncer at Jack’s on June 18, 2018, had informed E.M. that Canada`s World Junior team players were present in the bar. E.M. maintained, “I didn’t know that’s what they were.”
During the afternoon cross-examination session, Greenspan confronted E.M. about her police statement describing an incident in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel on June 19, 2018, where she was naked and lying on a bedsheet, and one of the players performed the splits over her.
E.M. recounted in court, “They were all laughing and thought it was hilarious. It wasn’t funny to me.”
Greenspan suggested that E.M. had heard one of the men say, “Hey, Footer, do the splits,” implying the action was part of consensual “fun and games” occurring in the room at the time, in which E.M. was participating.
“This was not something I asked for,” E.M. testified, adding she did not hear a name called out. “I got no notice before that happened to me. … They were having a good time at my expense.”
Greenspan then proposed to E.M. that she had enjoyed the attention.
E.M. responded, “This was attention I never asked for. They were objectifying me. They were literally laughing at me. They didn’t need to be in that room.”
Greenspan contended that E.M. had been having a “good time” until the men began talking among themselves, which she then disliked.
E.M. concluded her response by saying, “Any one of those men could have stood up and said, ‘This is not OK.’ They didn’t do that. They didn’t want to think about the fact that I wasn’t consenting.”
Regarding the charges, Michael McLeod faces two counts of sexual assault, including one for aiding in the offense. Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, and Carter Hart are each charged with one count of sexual assault. All five players have entered not guilty pleas.
The trial at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice is scheduled to resume on Wednesday with assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham conducting redirect examination of E.M.
Editor`s Note: This article discusses sensitive topics. Support resources for survivors of sexual assault are available.
Tristan Blackwood