It isn鈥檛 the question that is at the heart of the sexual assault trial in which five former junior hockey players have pleaded not guilty.聽
That will be for the jury to decide: Did any or some or all of the defendants do those things聽against the complainant鈥檚 will? Or were the acts performed in a hotel room nearly seven years ago consensual, as their lawyers are clearly poised to argue?聽
She said, on Friday, under examination-in-chief by the prosecution. They say, if the accused take the stand in their own defence.聽
But the puzzlement that hangs over the entire sordid scene 鈥 as outlined by the Crown in its opening address 鈥 is what would possess anybody to allegedly engage in intercourse and oral sex and slapping of naked buttocks and acrobatic leaping with dangling genitals as a collective spectacle, as indecent play-by-play intimacy exhibitionism. As if it were sport.聽
A text exchange between Michael McLeod and Taylor Raddysh on June 19, 2018.
Ontario Superior Court exhibitProbably no court can answer that crux question, what many have been asking about a tawdry event that seized headlines and brought Canada鈥檚 game 鈥 the boys and men who play it 鈥 into disrepute, certainly the foundational institutions that govern it. Not unless this trial summons shrinks and sexologists. Nor is the why of it relevant. But inquiring minds do wonder.聽
There are fetishes, of course, in sexual conduct. Alcohol diminishes inhibitions. And we are not supposed to be morally judgmental in a courtroom setting. But what is a trial if not judgmental in essence?聽
No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Except this trial is striving to open the door, for jurors, of Room 209 of the Delta Armouries Hotel in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018.聽
鈥淚 definitely feel like my inhibitions were lowered the more I drank,鈥 the woman testified about
Not everybody who filed through that room 鈥 the prosecution has said up to 10 men stepped inside 鈥 was all-in on the purported locker-room antics where sex crashed headlong into criminality, as charged. At least two players from the junior world championship team who had been feted at a gala in London that day wanted nothing to do with a sexual undercard.聽
Both testified remotely on Friday morning in a trial that has been bedevilled by technical issues and repeated delays.
The accused, who were all in their early 20s at the time: Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dub茅, Carter Hart and Cal Foote.聽
Former teammate Taylor Raddysh was there for just a short while, glanced briefly at a woman who was on the bed, under the covers. He鈥檇 received a text at 2:15 a.m. from McLeod: 鈥淐ome to my room if you want a gummer.鈥澛
Gummer, court heard, is slang for oral sex.聽
鈥淪he seemed fine,鈥 Raddysh recounted about the woman鈥檚 demeanour. 鈥淟ike, she was just lying on the bed. She seemed quite normal.鈥澛
In what clanged like a non-sequitur because there was no set-up to it, the witness was asked by defence lawyer Julianna Greenspan if he was 鈥渁ware that Foote is capable of doing the splits?鈥澛
Yes, Raddysh had witnessed it in the past, agreeing it was 鈥減retty cool.鈥 In the Crown鈥檚 opening, Foote was described as doing the splits over the complainant鈥檚 face while she lay on the ground, 鈥済razing his genitals over her face.鈥澛
Raddysh denied he ever saw the woman get off the bed and walk around naked.聽
He was followed (remotely) into the witness stand by former teammate Boris Katchouk, who stated repeatedly that he was quite hammered that night 鈥 he was also celebrating his birthday 鈥 and his memory was hazy. He did recount how he and his teammates had gone to Jack鈥檚 Bar after the gala. He ultimately left the bar with Foote and grabbed a slice of pizza at a food kiosk. On his way back to his own room, he walked by McLeod, standing outside Room 209.聽
Credit: Ontario Superior Court exhibit
鈥淗e asked me to go inside and I obliged.鈥澛
If McLeod had sent him a text invitation earlier, he never received it because his phone wasn鈥檛 working.聽
Katchouk saw a woman with a sheet pulled up to her shoulders.聽
McLeod asked if he would like a gummer, said Katchouk. Queried by the Crown to explain what that meant: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a blow job.鈥澛
Katchouk said he gave it a hard no. 鈥淚 had a girlfriend at the time, (so) there was nothing for me to think about. I believe I just laughed.鈥澛
The woman, said Katchouk, spoke to him in a playful manner, asking if she could have a bite of his pizza.聽
That鈥檚 when Raddysh entered the room and said to him: 鈥淗ey Bo, let鈥檚 get out of here.鈥澛
鈥淎nd we did just that. I was just very intoxicated, and I wanted to go to bed. I went straight to my room.鈥澛
He was there for only two minutes.聽
Plastered or not, Katchouk had enough good sense to remove himself from what had all the earmarks of a lurid sexual encounter unfolding, as the prosecution has posited.聽
While the jury had already been shown video of the complainant at Jack鈥檚 Bar in the company of the defendants, Friday afternoon was the first they saw of the woman 鈥 who can be identified only as E.M. under a standard publication ban 鈥 in quasi-person. She, too, is testifying remotely.聽
The trial is playing out in the London courthouse’s largest courtroom, where each player is
E.M. had gone to Jack鈥檚 Bar with female friends after consuming a couple of hard lemonades at home, then downed maybe half a dozen more drinks 鈥 Jagermeister shots, tequila, a vodka soda, a beer 鈥 with a group of men she didn鈥檛 know, eventually piecing together that they were hockey players. Her alcohol intake was 鈥渆xcessive,鈥 E.M. admitted, compared to a usual night out. She was 20 years old at the time.聽
There was an 鈥渙lder gentleman鈥 with the players聽鈥 鈥渉e poured a shot into my mouth鈥澛犫 who kept pushing her towards McLeod, saying what a great guy he was, 鈥渟omeone I should pursue.鈥 She described the older man as 鈥渨ingman-like.鈥澛
The crowd, the music, the dancing, sandwiched between the players, them grabbing her hand and pressing it against their crotches.聽
鈥淚 did feel like my inhibitions were lowered. Mentally, I felt all over the place 鈥ery chaotic. I just went along with it.鈥澛
Mostly, she danced with McLeod.聽
鈥淚 was attracted to him. He seemed interested in me.鈥澛
The trial continues.
