Hockey player Brett Howden doesn鈥檛 remember much about being in a London, Ont. hotel room in 2018, but agreed under cross-examination Monday at the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial that what he does remember seeing he believes was 鈥100 per cent consensual.鈥
Howden, a former member of the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team, has been testifying by Zoom since last Tuesday as a witness for the Crown.
The defence began cross-examining him Monday after the judge dealt a blow to the prosecution鈥檚 case by excluding a text message Howden sent to former teammate Taylor Raddysh in 2018, referring to accused player Dillon Dub茅 in the hotel room 鈥渟macking this girl鈥檚 ass so hard. Like, it looked like it hurt so bad.鈥 Howden testified last week that he doesn鈥檛 remember sending the text, nor witnessing what he describes in it.听
Members of the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team on the night of June 18-19, 2018: Brett Howden, second from right, Drake Batherson, top right, and Michael McLeod, bottom centre. The complainant, who has been anonymized by the Star because her identity is covered by a publication ban, is immediately left of McLeod, blurred.
Ontario Superior Court exhibitIt was the Crown鈥檚 second attempt to have the text admitted into evidence at the judge-alone trial for Dub茅, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Cal Foote.
While the Crown has said the text is 鈥渋mportant鈥 to its case, Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said she continues to have concerns about its accuracy given Howden鈥檚 poor memory, and that other possible explanations for the text could be that he was exaggerating about the force of the slap, or was mistaken about Dub茅 being involved.
鈥淲ith no recollection of the events referred to in the text, effective cross-examination will be impacted,鈥 she said.
The players were 鈥渃ompelled鈥 to sit for an interview with Hockey Canada. But they weren鈥檛 told the investigator knew police wanted access to her
The players were 鈥渃ompelled鈥 to sit for an interview with Hockey Canada. But they weren鈥檛 told the investigator knew police wanted access to her
The five men are accused of sexually assaulting a then-20-year-old woman in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018. The woman had met McLeod at Jack鈥檚 Bar and returned to his hotel room, where they had consensual sex, only for multiple men to show up afterward.
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.听
Court heard some of the men came into room 209 in response to a group chat text from McLeod about a three-way, while others, like Howden, came in under the belief that there was food in the room.听
Howden, who now plays for the Vegas Golden Knights and has not been accused of any wrongdoing, remembers little about the events in question due to the passage of time and being intoxicated that night. He testified he recalled seeing Hart and McLeod receive oral sex from the woman at different times in the night, after she repeatedly demanded to have sex with players. He also remembered the woman 鈥渢aking鈥 Formenton to the bathroom.听
鈥淭hroughout your time in the room, you have no doubt that what you saw was 100 per cent consensual?鈥 Hart鈥檚 lawyer, Megan Savard, asked Howden under cross-examination Monday, to which he responded: 鈥淵eah.鈥
He also confirmed under questioning by McLeod鈥檚 lawyer, David Humphrey, that he told Hockey Canada investigators in 2018 that he got the sense the complainant was embarrassed and upset, which he believed at the time was because few men were taking her up on her offers to have sex.
That included Howden, who had a girlfriend who is now his wife, and who said he was feeling uncomfortable with the woman鈥檚 demands. He also recalled in his 2018 Hockey Canada interview that he heard but didn鈥檛 see, the woman crying, which he also believed at the time was related to her feeling embarrassed.听
鈥淚t was just kind of awkward seeing this stuff, her asking and having this happen,鈥 Howden testified Monday, referring to witnessing the sexual activity.听
Howden鈥檚 testimony, full of memory gaps, has posed problems for the prosecution, with Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham acknowledging last week that the testimony of her witness has not proceeded 鈥渁s anticipated.鈥澨
The complainant, whose identity is covered by a standard publication ban, has testified about 鈥multiple people鈥 taking turns slapping her 鈥渁s hard as they could鈥 and that it hurt, but was unable to identify anyone.
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
Player Tyler Steenbergen testified earlier this month that he saw Dub茅 slap her, saying that 鈥渋t wasn鈥檛 hard, but it didn鈥檛 seem soft either.鈥 He then agreed with suggestions put to him under cross-examination by the defence that it appeared playful and part of foreplay. Similar to Howden, Steenbergen also recalled the woman asking the room: 鈥Can one of you guys come over and f-鈥-鈥- me?鈥欌
The Howden text message would have been the piece of evidence most closely aligned to what the complainant has told the court about the slapping, and the Crown had been fervently trying to get it admitted at trial.听
鈥淭he text message provides what I submit is very critical corroboration for the complainant鈥檚 testimony about one of the actual offences that is charged before the court,鈥 Cunningham said during legal arguments last week. 鈥淚t is also itself direct evidence of that offence.鈥澨
While Dub茅鈥檚 lawyer has told the court her client doesn鈥檛 dispute that his hand made contact with the complainant鈥檚 buttocks, Carroccia said in her ruling Monday it鈥檚 possible that others were responsible for the forceful slapping described by the complainant.听
The judge also found there鈥檚 a lack of 鈥渁dequate substitutes鈥 to test the truth and accuracy of the text message, which would have included Howden making the statement under oath, or while he was being video-recorded.
