Content warning: This article contains allegations of sexual assault.
LONDON, Ont. — NHL player Taylor Raddysh gave testimony on Wednesday, stating he had little clear memory of what occurred at the Delta Armouries hotel on the night of the alleged incident. This event is a focal point of the trial involving five former NHL players facing sexual assault charges.
Raddysh provided his testimony via video conference from the Washington Capitals` team facility located in Arlington, Virginia.
Assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham questioned Raddysh regarding text messages sent by Michael McLeod to a group chat that included 18 members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team. Raddysh confirmed receiving and subsequently taking screenshots of these messages. One message, sent at 2:10 a.m. on June 19, 2018, read, “Who wants to be in a 3 way quick.” A reply in the group chat from a device associated with Carter Hart at 2:19 a.m. stated, “I’m in”.
However, when pressed for specific details about what he witnessed and heard that night nearly seven years prior—his hotel room was next to the room where the alleged incident took place—Raddysh could not provide many particulars, even after reviewing the transcript of his earlier statements from a Hockey Canada investigation. He did state he saw McLeod, Boris Katchouk, and a woman when he entered the room for what he described as “a very short time.”
Earlier in the proceedings, the jury had been shown videos taken on a phone of the complainant, referred to as “E.M.” in court documents due to a publication ban, following the alleged incident.
A video presented in court, with a timestamp of 3:25 a.m., shows E.M., who is dressed, responding “Yeah, I’m OK” to a male voice repeatedly asking, “You’re OK with this, right? You’re OK with this?”
In a subsequent video shown, timestamped 4:26 a.m., E.M. appears to be covered only by a towel and tells the camera, “This was all consensual. I enjoyed it. Are you filming this?” She then added, “You are so paranoid. I’m so sober — that’s why I can’t do this right now.”
Both of these videos originated from Michael McLeod’s phone.
The videos were displayed during the appearance of Det. Tiffany Waque, one of the London Police Service investigators assigned to the case involving the incident alleged to have happened on June 19, 2018, following a celebration hosted by Hockey Canada.
The court was also shown videos from the evening of June 18, 2018, at Jack’s bar. These included footage of players dancing with E.M. on the crowded dance floor, as well as video of E.M. using an ATM inside the bar, ordering drinks, and later, leaving the Delta Armouries hotel and appearing to get a ride. An Uber receipt entered as evidence indicated she traveled to a redacted address at 5:08 a.m.
McLeod, aged 27, is charged with two counts of sexual assault, one charge related to aiding in the offence. Dillon Dube, 26, Cal Foote, 26, Alex Formenton, 25, and Hart, 26, each face one count of sexual assault. All five defendants have entered not guilty pleas to the charges against them.
Testimony in the trial is scheduled to resume on Thursday.
Tristan Blackwood