NHL player Brett Howden鈥檚 testimony at the ongoing Hockey Canada sexual assault trial has not proceeded 鈥渁s anticipated,鈥 the Crown said Friday as prosecutors fervently pushed to admit a 2018 text message from Howden they say is 鈥渋mportant鈥 to their case.听
Howden, who plays with the Vegas Golden Knights, has been appearing as a Crown witness by Zoom this week at the judge-alone trial of Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dub茅, and Cal Foote. The five have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a then-20-year-old woman in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018. After meeting McLeod at Jack鈥檚 Bar, the complainant had consensual sex with him in his hotel room, only for multiple men to come in afterward. All of the men were members at the time of the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team.
Howden鈥檚 lack of memory of that night has been the focus of courtroom debate this week.
On Friday, Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled against the Crown and prohibited them from admitting a text message Howden sent to fellow player Taylor Raddysh on June 26, 2018, regarding Dub茅 in the hotel room; Howden has testified he doesn鈥檛 actually remember sending Raddysh the text, which reads: 鈥淢an, when I was leaving, Duber was smacking this girl鈥檚 ass so hard. Like, it looked like it hurt so bad.鈥澨
Carroccia said the text could not be admitted because Howden couldn鈥檛 vouch for its accuracy during his testimony.
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
鈥淎lthough Mr. Howden testified that he wasn鈥檛 trying to lie when he sent that message, he did not testify that that message was true,鈥 the judge said.听
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
Howden鈥檚 testimony this week has posed problems for the Crown, as he has very little memory of the events in the hotel room, and was unable to refresh his memory after reading what he told police and Hockey Canada investigators in previous statements over the years.听
After Caroccia鈥檚 ruling on Friday, Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham said the Crown would be trying to have the text message admitted a different way, an application the defence is strongly opposing. Legal arguments on that application are expected to continue Friday.听
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 fair to say that the evidence of Mr. Howden has not proceeded as anticipated,鈥 Cunningham said, adding she didn鈥檛 know he wouldn鈥檛 be able to vouch for the text message鈥檚 accuracy until his testimony this week.
鈥淪o I appreciate ... that the defendants wish to move on to another witness, move on with the trial, of course so do we,鈥 Cunningham said.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.
鈥淏ut the information contained in this text message is important to the Crown鈥檚 case.鈥
Hart鈥檚 lawyer, Riaz Sayani, argued that allowing the Crown to make a last-ditch effort to admit the text will 鈥渄isrupt the timely disposition of the trial,鈥 which is scheduled to conclude by mid-June, but has been moving at a snail鈥檚 pace since Carroccia dismissed the jury last Friday and the case has continued as a judge-alone trial.听
鈥淭his trial just might never end,鈥 he said.听
Howden is expected to be the Crown鈥檚 penultimate witness at the high-profile trial, but despite starting his testimony on Tuesday, he has yet to conclude his examination-in-chief by the Crown. He could then face questions under cross-examination by all five defence lawyers.
After Howden, the Crown is planning to call retired London police detective Steve Newton as its final witness; Newton was the detective who originally investigated in 2018 and found there were no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges.
