Complainant testifies at hockey sexual assault trial
Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault. LONDON, Ont. — The complainant in the sexual assault trial for five former NHLers testified for the first time on Friday. The woman, known as “E.M.” in court documents because of a publication ban on identifying her, said she felt “uncomfortable,” “confused” and “claustrophobic” while being “surrounded” by men, identified in earlier testimony as members of the 2018 Canadian world junior team, while on the dancefloor at Jack’s bar. E.M. also said she had 12 drinks on the night of the alleged incident in June 2018. The woman testified from elsewhere in the courthouse via CCTV that she had seven Jagerbomb shots, one vodka or tequila shot, two coolers, a beer and a vodka soda and was feeling “very drunk” by the end of the night. She characterized her experiences at the bar as being “fine” with Michael McLeod after she was introduced by an unnamed teammate. She later said she felt “pressure” to be with him, saying he was waiting outside the washroom after she went in there to “regroup.” After being shown by assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham a cell-phone video recorded toward the end of the night on the dancefloor, E.M. said she looked “really intoxicated,” her eyes were shut and she doesn’t “even look like I’m aware a video is being taken.” E.M.’s testimony concluded for the day after watching security video of her and McLeod getting out of a taxi and walking through the lobby of the Delta Armouries hotel. She said she went back to the hotel with McLeod because she has “a hard time saying no.” Earlier in court, Boris Katchouk testified via video conferencing from Wilkes/Barre, Pa., after his AHL Penguins had been eliminated from the playoffs. He testified that on June 18-19, 2018, his phone was broken, so he did not receive the texts sent by teammates in a group chat. He said he spent less than two minutes in McLeod’s hotel room after after McLeod invited him in, at one point asking if he wanted oral sex from the woman. Katchouk testified that when he was in McLeod’s hotel room alone briefly with the complainant while McLeod went to get teammate Taylor Raddysh from his room, E.M. asked him if she could have a bite of his pizza, which he refused. During the conclusion of his testimony that began Wednesday (court did not sit on Thursday because of the illness of a juror), Raddysh read into the record a section of the statement he gave in July 2018 during a Hockey Canada investigation. Raddysh said he didn’t hear E.M. say anything in the short amount of time he was in the room with McLeod and Katchouk before returning to his own room. Some of the players were greeted as they entered the courthouse Friday morning by about 10 protesters holding up signs, one of which read “Break the silence, stop the violence.” McLeod, 27, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to aiding in the offence. Dillon Dube, 26, Cal Foote, 26, Alex Formenton, 25, and Carter Hart, 26, have each been charged with one count of sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty to their charges. E.M.’s testimony is expected to resume on Monday.
Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault.
LONDON, Ont. — The complainant in the sexual assault trial for five former NHLers testified for the first time on Friday.
The woman, known as “E.M.” in court documents because of a publication ban on identifying her, said she felt “uncomfortable,” “confused” and “claustrophobic” while being “surrounded” by men, identified in earlier testimony as members of the 2018 Canadian world junior team, while on the dancefloor at Jack’s bar.
E.M. also said she had 12 drinks on the night of the alleged incident in June 2018.
The woman testified from elsewhere in the courthouse via CCTV that she had seven Jagerbomb shots, one vodka or tequila shot, two coolers, a beer and a vodka soda and was feeling “very drunk” by the end of the night.
She characterized her experiences at the bar as being “fine” with Michael McLeod after she was introduced by an unnamed teammate. She later said she felt “pressure” to be with him, saying he was waiting outside the washroom after she went in there to “regroup.”
After being shown by assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham a cell-phone video recorded toward the end of the night on the dancefloor, E.M. said she looked “really intoxicated,” her eyes were shut and she doesn’t “even look like I’m aware a video is being taken.”
E.M.’s testimony concluded for the day after watching security video of her and McLeod getting out of a taxi and walking through the lobby of the Delta Armouries hotel. She said she went back to the hotel with McLeod because she has “a hard time saying no.”
Earlier in court, Boris Katchouk testified via video conferencing from Wilkes/Barre, Pa., after his AHL Penguins had been eliminated from the playoffs. He testified that on June 18-19, 2018, his phone was broken, so he did not receive the texts sent by teammates in a group chat. He said he spent less than two minutes in McLeod’s hotel room after after McLeod invited him in, at one point asking if he wanted oral sex from the woman.
Katchouk testified that when he was in McLeod’s hotel room alone briefly with the complainant while McLeod went to get teammate Taylor Raddysh from his room, E.M. asked him if she could have a bite of his pizza, which he refused.
During the conclusion of his testimony that began Wednesday (court did not sit on Thursday because of the illness of a juror), Raddysh read into the record a section of the statement he gave in July 2018 during a Hockey Canada investigation. Raddysh said he didn’t hear E.M. say anything in the short amount of time he was in the room with McLeod and Katchouk before returning to his own room.
Some of the players were greeted as they entered the courthouse Friday morning by about 10 protesters holding up signs, one of which read “Break the silence, stop the violence.”
McLeod, 27, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to aiding in the offence. Dillon Dube, 26, Cal Foote, 26, Alex Formenton, 25, and Carter Hart, 26, have each been charged with one count of sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty to their charges.
E.M.’s testimony is expected to resume on Monday.
