The sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team is watching a video of an interview one of the accused gave to police months after the alleged incident.
Michael McLeod spoke with the lead investigator in the case at the time, Det. Steve Newton, at his lawyer's office in November 2018.
At the outset, Newton, who is now retired, tells McLeod he doesn't believe he has the grounds to lay a charge of sexual assault and doesn't have any plans at that point to arrest or charge him.
McLeod tells the officer he had sex with the complainant in his hotel room, then hung out with her and a few more guys while waiting for a food delivery to arrive.
He says he then went to pick up the food, and when he walked back into the room, the woman was giving oral sex to Carter Hart. He says more men came into the room soon after.
McLeod, Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, and McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.
The charges stem from an encounter that took place in a London, Ont., hotel room in the early hours of June 19, 2018.
At the time, many members of the 2018 national world junior team were in town for a series of events celebrating their championship win.
The complainant, who was 20 at the time, testified she met some of the players at a bar and went with McLeod to his hotel room, where they had sex. That sexual activity is not part of the trial, which centres on what happened after other men came into the room.
Prosecutors allege McLeod, Hart and Dube obtained oral sex from the woman without her consent, and Dube slapped her buttocks while she was engaged in a sexual act with someone else.
Foote is accused of doing the splits over the woman's face and grazing his genitals on it without her consent. Formenton is alleged to have had vaginal sex with the complainant inside the bathroom without her consent.
Earlier Tuesday, one of the accused's former teammates faced questions on his interactions with the complainant at the bar.
In security footage from Jack's bar, Brett Howden, who is not accused in the case, is seen dancing with the complainant, walking to the bar with her, and at one point, patting her on the buttocks.
A defence lawyer representing one of the accused suggested during cross-examination today that Howden minimized his interactions with the woman in speaking with Hockey Canada investigators and police because he was concerned about how it would be interpreted.
Howden disagreed, saying he spoke honestly with investigators and simply could not remember what was shown in the footage.
Howden, who now plays in the NHL for the Vegas Golden Knights, has testified that he was in the hotel room with several other players for about an hour that night, but does not remember many details of what happened.
He testified that he saw Hart and McLeod receive oral sex, and the complainant take Formenton to the bathroom.
He could not remember if he saw Dube slap the complainant on the buttocks, and prosecutors sought to admit as evidence a text in which he described seeing the alleged slap. The judge rejected the Crown's applications due to concerns about the text's accuracy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
