LONDON, Ont.鈥 The complainant in the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial 鈥渓ied under oath鈥 as she tried to make stick a version of events that led the sports organization to quickly settle her multi-million-dollar lawsuit in 2022, the defence charged on the second day of closing arguments Tuesday.
After hearing nearly six weeks鈥 worth of evidence, lawyers have been making their final pitches this week to Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, who will need to decide the fate of the five accused hockey players in what was originally a jury trial but is now a judge-alone case.
Carroccia said Tuesday she will deliver her judgement on July 24.听
Player Alex Formenton鈥檚 lawyer, Daniel Brown, argued Tuesday that the complainant 鈥渉as been demonstrably wrong about many, many, many things鈥 throughout her testimony.听
鈥淪he didn鈥檛 just get things wrong,鈥 Brown continued. 鈥淏ut she lied under oath.鈥澨
The central issue in the case is whether the woman consented to sexual activity with Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dub茅 and
The central issue in the case is whether the woman consented to sexual activity with Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dub茅 and
As examples, he argued the complainant lied about her weight at the time of the alleged events in June 2018, when she testified she was greatly affected by the alcohol she consumed that night before engaging in sexual activity with the players.
She testified she was 120 pounds, but Brown highlighted that she later admitted under cross-examination she knew she was actually 138 pounds because she had reviewed her medical records prior to her testimony. She then said she testified 120 pounds because that was the answer she gave in a previous statement about the alleged incident.听
鈥淭he reason she gave that wrong answer was because she had previously given a wrong answer and wanted to be consistent,鈥 Brown argued. 鈥淚t was more important than being truthful, and that should give Your Honour concerns. It should concern you that she doesn鈥檛 respect the oath. It should give you concerns that she鈥檚 done this elsewhere.鈥
Brown said the complainant initially maintained that the only errors in her 2022 statement sent to police for their criminal investigation and to Hockey Canada for an independent probe had to do with the chronology of the events, only to later admit that the statement contained a number of factual errors about what happened in June 2018.听
鈥淪he knew that wasn鈥檛 true, she knew that was a deliberate lie that she said in front of the jury without hesitation,鈥 Brown argued.听
The jury has heard 鈥 in graphic detail 鈥 her allegations about what took place inside a London, Ont., hotel room in 2018.
The jury has heard 鈥 in graphic detail 鈥 her allegations about what took place inside a London, Ont., hotel room in 2018.
The central issue in the case is whether the complainant, whose identity is covered by a standard publication ban, consented to sexual activity with Formenton, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dub茅 and Cal Foote, all members of the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team, in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018, when she was 20 years old.
The complainant had met McLeod at Jack鈥檚 Bar and returned to his room where they had consensual sex, only for multiple men to come in afterward, some prompted by a group chat text from McLeod about a three-way.
The five men have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, while McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to being a party to a sexual assault for allegedly encouraging his teammates to engage in sexual activity with the complainant when he knew she wasn鈥檛 consenting.
A pair of stills from videos showing the dance floor inside Jack’s Bar in London, Ont., on the night of June 18-19, 2018, show the complainant with world junior team members Dillon Dub茅, circled left, and Michael McLeod, right.听
Ontario Superior Court ExhibitWhen it comes to things the complainant has testified about that are not corroborated by other evidence 鈥 such as being spat on in the hotel room, slapped multiple times, being physically redirected back to the middle of the room when trying to leave 鈥 Carroccia should 鈥渂e quite suspicious and should doubt,鈥 Brown said.听
What the complainant was doing, Brown argued, was trying to stand by a version of events she alleged in her $3.5-million sexual assault lawsuit filed in 2022 against Hockey Canada and eight unnamed John Doe players, which the sports organization quickly settled for an undisclosed sum without notifying the players 鈥 鈥淓xtremely quick, quite frankly,鈥 the judge said in court Monday.听
London police had initially investigated but declined to lay charges in February 2019. As the Star reported last month, Det. Steve Newton believed the video surveillance footage and other evidence contradicted the complainant鈥檚 assertion that she was too drunk to consent. Separate police and Hockey Canada probes were reopened in 2022 amid intense public pressure after TSN reported on the settlement.
London police documents make clear the high-profile sex assault investigation was reopened in 2022 due to 鈥渁 resurgence in media attention鈥 鈥 with
London police documents make clear the high-profile sex assault investigation was reopened in 2022 due to 鈥渁 resurgence in media attention鈥 鈥 with
Brown and the other defence lawyers have argued this week that after being made aware by police of those 鈥渄eficiencies鈥 in her account, the complainant shifted to a new version of events in her lawsuit, indicating that she was not just drunk but went along with the sexual activity because of the intimidating nature of being in a room full of men she didn鈥檛 know. That version now forms the basis of the Crown鈥檚 theory for the criminal case.听
鈥淪he wants money, she wants a lot of money, she wants 3.5 million dollars, and she鈥檚 been told that whatever evidence she鈥檚 been claiming about her extreme intoxication doesn鈥檛 quite get her there,鈥 Brown said.听
鈥淪he鈥檚 used his enhanced claim to secure herself some sort of significant Hockey Canada settlement, so she can鈥檛 exactly admit that she lied.鈥
The Crown has alleged that McLeod had intercourse with the complainant a second time in the hotel room鈥檚 bathroom; that Formenton separately had intercourse with the complainant in the bathroom; that McLeod, Hart and Dub茅 obtained oral sex from the woman; that Dub茅 slapped her naked buttocks, and that Foote did the splits over her head and his genitals 鈥済razed鈥 her face 鈥 all without her consent.
Much like McLeod鈥檚 and Hart鈥檚 lawyers on Monday, Brown and Dub茅鈥檚 lawyer Lisa Carnelos argued on Tuesday that the sexual encounters between the complainant and their clients were consensual.
The Crown鈥檚 own witnesses 鈥 players in the room who haven鈥檛 been charged with any wrongdoing 鈥 testified that the complainant was repeatedly demanding to have sex with players. Formenton ultimately agreed, but in the bathroom away from everyone else.
The complainant herself testified it was possible she made such demands, but that if she did it was because she had adopted the 鈥減ersona鈥 of a 鈥減orn star鈥 as a coping mechanism to deal with the trauma of being in a room full of men she didn鈥檛 know. And she agreed under cross-examination by Brown that it鈥檚 鈥減ossible鈥 she pulled Formenton into the bathroom.听
鈥淗e did this because she said she wanted to have sexual intercourse and because he wanted to have sex,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淭hey both agreed. It鈥檚 not complicated.鈥
Dub茅 told police in a 2018 interview that he briefly received consensual oral sex from the complainant. While describing her client as 鈥渘ot a particularly polished or articulate young man鈥 at the time, Carnelos said Carroccia should nonetheless believe him and that the interview establishes there was communication between Dube and the complainant to confirm consent to sexual activity.听
Dub茅 neglected to mention that he slapped the complainant鈥檚 naked buttocks, which player Tyler Steenbergen testified he witnessed. Dub茅 himself admitted to the slap in a statement to Hockey Canada鈥檚 2022 probe, which was excluded from the criminal case due to the 鈥渦nfair鈥 way in which it was obtained. The complainant wasn鈥檛 able to identify who slapped her, though she said multiple men were doing it听and that it hurt.听
Steenbergen had agreed under cross-examination that Dube鈥檚 slap appeared playful and could have been part of foreplay. Carnelos said her client may have simply forgotten to mention in his police interview that his hand made contact with the complainant鈥檚 buttocks, which she said the evidence would suggest was a 鈥渧ery minor act consistent with foreplay鈥 between two people who were already engaged sexually.
Closing arguments continue Wednesday from Foote鈥檚 lawyer, Julianna Greenspan, followed by the Crown.
