RECAP | NHLer Says He Had ‘no Reason To Lie’ In Text Under Scrutiny At Trial Of Former World Junior Players | CBC

Justice Maria Carroccia listens on while assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham speaks in the courtroom.

(Alexandra Newbould/CBC)

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The Crown and defence teams spent much of the day sparring over whether a 2018 text message sent by witness Brett Howden should be admitted as evidence.Howden is a centre for the Vegas Golden Knights and ex-teammate of the five former world junior hockey players accused of sexual assault.Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia adjourned court early, saying she would provide her ruling on the admissibility of the text on Friday morning.The Crown is still pressing for an opportunity to cross-examine Howden about inconsistencies between his testimony at trial and what he told investigators previously.The accused — Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod — have all pleaded not guilty to the alleged sexual assaults involving the complainant, E.M., at a hotel in London, Ont., in June 2018.Updates

May 22

6 hours ago

We’ll be back in court tomorrow

Lucas Powers

Proceedings ended a bit early today, as Justice Carroccia says she needs the rest of the afternoon to consider an important ruling.

If you’re just getting here, scroll down to read about how the day in court unfolded.

As ever, we know testimony throughout the trial has included details that can be difficult to read. There are support services available.

If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database.

7 hours ago

Ruling coming tomorrow

Mark Gollom

Justice Maria Carroccia is presiding over the trial on her own. She’ll also be the one to hand down a decision. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC)Legal arguments over the admissibility of the text message have ended and Justice Maria Carroccia said she will make her ruling on the issue Friday morning.

7 hours agoMark Gollom

WARNING: This post contains graphic details.

Cunningham also challenges Sayani’s point about Howden being intoxicated when he was in the hotel room and witnessed Dubé allegedly smack the complainant on the buttocks.

She said being drunk doesn’t mean you’re an unreliable witness all the time, and it doesn’t mean Howden would have invented a story about seeing Dubé smack the complainant’s buttocks.

7 hours ago

Cunnigham responds

Mark Gollom

Assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham is back up, making the point that when she asked Howden if he was describing something he knew to be true, regarding the text message, he answered: ‘Yeah.”

She said when she asked if he believed he was being truthful in those messages, Howden said yes.

“There is no substantive difference here between Howden saying that this is the truth or I believe that was the truth,” Cunningham said.

7 hours ago

Hart’s lawyer challenges text message

Mark Gollom

Carter Hart outside the courthouse with his defence team, Megan Savard and Riaz Sayani. (Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press)WARNING: This post contains graphic details.

Court has resumed and now Riaz Sayani, lawyer for Carter Hart, is also challenging the admissibility and accuracy of Howden’s text message related to the alleged slap by Dubé on the buttocks of the complainant.

Sayani said the witness must be able to assert that the record accurately represented his knowledge and recollection at the time.

It’s not good enough for a witness to say they would have been truthful, Sayani said. There also needs to be a voucher that they were, in fact, accurate.

All Howden can say is that he was being sincere, Sayani said, but he can’t say he was not inaccurate.

Sayani said Howden also said that he agreed some of what he said in all the text messages could be inaccurate, but couldn’t specify which ones.

9 hours ago

We’ll be back in about an hour

Lucas Powers

Court has recessed for lunch until 2:15 p.m. ET.

We’ll have more live coverage of the proceedings then. In the meantime, you can scroll down to get caught up on how the day has unfolded so far.

9 hours agoMark Gollom

Lisa Carnelos is counsel for Dillon Dubé. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC)Carnelos said that to confirm the accuracy of the text, Howden would have had to have said that he knew when he wrote that text he was trying to be accurate.

But Carnelos says Howden can’t say that presently, and in fact, he “says the opposite.”

9 hours ago

Carnelos challenges accuracy of text

Mark Gollom

WARNING: This post contains graphic details.

Carnelos is now addressing Justice Maria Carroccia about the accuracy of the text message between Howden and Raddysh related to the alleged slap on the buttocks of the complainant by Dubé.

Carnelos is challenging the accuracy of what Howden said he witnessed regarding the slap.

9 hours ago

Taking a break

Lucas Powers

Court is on a brief recess. We’ll be back when proceedings resume.

9 hours agoMark Gollom

Howden has been dismissed for now. Cunningham had been making legal arguments to the court about the admissibility of text messages in relation to the fourth inconsistency.

That inconsistency relates to how Howden felt when Dillon Dubé is alleged to have slapped E.M., the complainant, on the buttocks.