The accused men and their defence teams in Ontario Superior Court in London, Ont.
(Alexandra Newbould/CBC)
The Latest
The trial of five former Hockey Canada world junior players continued today in London, Ont.Last week, the proceedings took an unexpected turn when Justice Maria Carroccia discharged the jury. The Crown and defence teams agreed to move ahead with a judge-only trial.Brett Howden, a member of the 2018 world junior team and a current forward for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, began testifying.Howden and another ex-teammate, Tyler Steenbergen, have testified that the complainant, E.M., was “taunting” players to have sex with her.The accused — Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod — have all pleaded not guilty.WARNING: Court proceedings include graphic details of alleged sexual assault and might affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who’s been affected.Updates
May 20
17 minutes ago
Crown accuses Howden of inconsistencies in testimony
Mark Gollom
Howden has been dismissed for the day after assistant Crown attorney Cunningham said she wants to deal with what she believes are inconsistencies in his testimony.
Cunningham is suggesting that Howden, the Crown’s witness, made inconsistent statements compared to evidence he gave previously to investigators.
35 minutes ago
Calls from Dubé, Foote
Mark Gollom
WARNING: This post contains graphic details.
Howden told court that before he was set to be interviewed by Robitaille, he received two calls, one from Dubé and another from Foote.
He said both asked him not to bring up what they are now accused of doing. (Dubé spanking the woman and Foote doing the splits over the woman.)
44 minutes ago
Mark Golllom
A text message from Brett Howden to a group chat that began after Hockey Canada initiated its investigation in 2018. A record of the chat was entered as evidence at the trial. (Ontario Superior Court of Justice)Cunningham also asks Howden about a message he sent that said: “Nobody forced her to do anything, if anything we should put allegations on her.”
Cunningham asks Howden what he meant by the word “allegations.”
Howden said he was just trying to say that the woman was the one who started it all and put the players in that situation.
45 minutes agoMark Gollom
Assistant Crown attorney Cunningham asks Howden about one of the messages he sent to the group chat that began after the players learned Hockey Canada was doing an investigation.
Howden texted to the group that all they had to say is that while they were in the hotel room, the woman started begging for sex and that nobody would do it. But as time went on, she gave three guys oral sex, and that’s when “things started to get out of hand.”
(Howden has previously testified he saw two defendants receive oral sex — McLeod and Hart. When asked about this message and his reference to three, he said at the time he thought maybe Formenton had also received oral sex.)
Howden testified that he was just trying to say what happened and “being honest” about the situation.
59 minutes ago
Howden’s recall
Mark Gollom
The entrance to the London, Ont., hotel room where the alleged encounters took place. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)Howden has repeatedly said he doesn’t remember some of the details about what happened in the hotel room that night.
But Cunningham keeps referring him to a 2018 interview with Danielle Robitaille, the Hockey Canada investigator, suggesting he recalled more details of that night during his interview with her than he can recall today.
Howden says that referring to that interview has mostly not helped him recall details of that night.
1 hour ago
Howden testimony played back
Mark Gollom
Court was discussing previous testimony of Howden, without his presence, about whether he saw Dubé spank the buttocks of the woman.
The Crown has suggested Howden may have contradicted himself in his testimony, so his testimony was played back.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said his evidence was that he remembers the spanking but he doesn’t remember seeing it.
Howden was brought back to court via video link and he was again asked by Cunningham to clarify what he saw regarding the spank.
Howden was asked how he knew it was Dubé doing the spanking.
Howden said he didn’t have a memory of seeing it, but he knew it was Dubé, although Howden acknowledged he didn’t really know how this could be.
2 hours ago
Proceedings resume
Lucas Powers
Court is back, but the judge has asked the witness, Brett Howden, to disconnect from the proceedings so she can discuss a matter with the lawyers.
Howden is testifying remotely via video link from Las Vegas, where he plays in the NHL.
3 hours ago
Court breaks for lunch
Lucas Powers
Proceedings are slated to resume around 2:15 p.m. ET.
Assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham will continue questioning Howden after the break.
3 hours agoMark Gollom
WARNING: This post contains graphic details.
Howden said he doesn’t recall saying anything to Formenton as he was going to the bathroom with the woman.
Howden remembered seeing them walk toward the bathroom, he said, but he doesn’t remember seeing them shut the door, hearing any sounds from the bathroom or seeing them exiting from it.
He said he doesn’t remember seeing anyone else make physical contact with the woman.
Assistant Crown attorney Cunningham asked Howden to refer to text exchanges he had with former teammate Taylor Raddysh back in 2018, in which he refers to defendant Dillion Dubé spanking the woman on the buttock.
Howden said he does remember that spanking happening, but no details, and that he wanted to leave the room because he felt uncomfortable.
3 hours agoMark Gollom
Alex Formenton leaves the courthouse in London, Ont., earlier this month. (Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press)Howden said he didn’t see anything sexual happen between defendant Alex Formenton and the woman, but he did watch her take Formenton to the bathroom.
On the way to the bathroom, Howden said, he remembered Formenton saying something like: “Should I be doing this?”
Howden said a couple guys said that since she was taking him to the bathroom, “it’s really your call.”
