Complainant asked about her behaviour at world junior hockey sex assault trial
Cross-examination resumed on Wednesday for the woman allegedly sexually assaulted by five former Canadian world junior hockey players, with the lawyer for one of the players suggesting she was ‘acting like a porn star.’ Warning: This video includes details of alleged sexual assault and might affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who’s been impacted by it.
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The woman allegedly assaulted by five men who once played on Canada’s world junior hockey team was back under cross-examination today.Counsel questioned her about misidentifying members of the 2018 world juniors team, implicating men who were not involved in the alleged assault.The lawyer also suggested E.M.’s behaviour on the night in question led the accused to assume she consented to sexual activity.E.M. said she didn’t intentionally mix up the players and didn’t consent to what happened that night.Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod have 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 7
5 hours ago
We’re finished our live updates
Rhianna Schmunk
A court sketch shows Megan Savard, lawyer for Carter Hart, cross-examining complainant E.M. during the sexual assault trial for five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC)We’ll pick up our coverage from the London courthouse when proceedings are back in session.
As always, there are support services available for those who have found details from the cross-examination today difficult to read.
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For help in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database.
5 hours ago
Early end to court after E.M. breaks down in tears
Kate Dubinski
Savard keeps pressing E.M. on what she said about Gadjovich in the Hockey Canada statement and the statement of claim.
“I don’t know what you’re asking here,” E.M. says.
She begins crying, saying it’s been a long day and she doesn’t understand what Savard is getting at or asking.
Court is adjourned.
Proceedings are set to resume at 10 a.m. ET tomorrow.
5 hours ago
Savard presses E.M. about misidentification
Kate Dubinski
Savard keeps asking E.M. about why Gadjovich’s name ended up in the appendix.
E.M. has said her lawyers drafted her statement of claim in the civil lawsuit, and she was trying to be very careful about not misidentifying him.
Gadjovich (and all the other men) had no chance to respond to the allegations in the civil suit before Hockey Canada settled it, Savard says. They didn’t even find out there was a settlement until it broke in the news.
“That’s on Hockey Canada, not me,” E.M. responds.
5 hours ago
A 2nd player misidentified
Kate Dubinski
After the break, Savard continues her cross-examination of E.M. by bringing up another man she misidentified: Jonah Gadjovich, who was also on the 2018 world junior team.
Gadjovich’s name was mistakenly added to an appendix in E.M.’s civil lawsuit in 2022, though he is not accused of participating in the alleged assault.
The complainant tells the court it was the lawyers who drafted her statement of claim that year.
Savard suggests E.M. didn’t take great care with who she was naming.
“I wasn’t intentionally trying to do that,” E.M. says.
Gadjovich, who currently plays for the NHL’s Florida Panthers, does not face any criminal charges in the world juniors case.
6 hours ago
Afternoon break
Kate Dubinski
Court is now taking a short break.
Back around 4 p.m. ET.
6 hours ago
E.M. says she had trouble distinguishing between the men
Kate Dubinski
Savard brings up the fact E.M. at one point told detectives she performed oral sex on another member of the 2018 world juniors team – Sam Steel, who’s currently with the NHL’s Dallas Stars – and not Hart. Savard said it was somebody else who ultimately identified Hart as a suspect, though the lawyer does not specify who pointed to Hart.
E.M. agrees with Savard that she had trouble distinguishing between the men because “a lot of them look alike.”
She has said several times that she was worried about misidentifying the men in the hotel room because she knows these are serious accusations, but she was trying to be helpful to police.
Steel has not been criminally charged in this case.
6 hours ago
Lawyer questions why she didn’t get her phone while in the room
Kate Dubinski
Savard says E.M.’s phone was in her wristlet (a wallet or purse designed to be carried around the wrist) and was most likely just outside the bathroom door.
The lawyer says she could have grabbed the wristlet when she went to the bathroom to get dressed.
E.M. agrees, but also says it was an “unexpected situation” and she didn’t know how to react.
Savard suggests E.M. was trying to convince herself that she was fine.
“One of the best ways to convince yourself that you’re having a good time is to pretend to have a good time,” the lawyer says.
“Yes, I agree with that,” E.M. replies.
6 hours ago
E.M. says men should’ve known she wasn’t OK
Kate Dubinski
Savard’s point is E.M. can’t say with certainty whether she requested or offered specific sex acts in the hotel room because she can’t remember whether she spoke – let alone what she did or did not say.
But E.M. says the men should have known that she wasn’t OK.
“The fact that I’m asking for it speaks to my level of intoxication,” she says. “They knew how much I was drinking that night. There were way more of them than there were of me. Nobody thought, ‘This isn’t a good situation.’ I feel like they really should have known.”
7 hours ago
E.M. ‘flustered’ as defence implies she presents feelings as memories
Kate Dubinski
E.M. says she’s getting “flustered” by Savard’s questions.
“I am trying to be truthful and honest about how I felt, and how I was treated and how it was in the room,” the woman tells the lawyer.
Savard has been asking E.M. to distinguish between what she was feeling and what she remembers. The lawyer noted E.M. often says, “I feel …” when talking about what may or may not be a memory.
“Feelings aren’t memories,” Savard says. “You say you feel like you weren’t saying anything, but you have no memory of it, so you have no idea what was said.”
7 hours ago
E.M. says her behaviour didn’t represent emotions
Kate Dubinski
Savard points out to E.M. that she also told Hockey Canada investigators in October 2022 that the men “probably assumed I was fine with it, given how drunk I was and that I was going along with it. They must have thought I was OK with it.”
In court, E.M. tells Savard that she was laughing it off and, outwardly, it might have looked like she was OK – but says that’s not how she was feeling.
