Crown to reveal if it will call new witness or wrap its case at trial of former world junior hockey players
Posted on: May 28, 2025 14:31 IST | Posted by: Cbc
Former top investigator questioned at hockey sexual assault tribulation
law video of accused player shown in hockey sexual assault trial
'Consent videos' a focus of ex-world junior hockey players' trial
The 2018 police video and audio interviews shown in court this week — as former London police investigator Stephen Newton was testifying remotely — may be the only opportunity we get to hear from Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton and Dillon Dubé, three of the five accused former world junior hockey players.
In the recordings, they give graphic accounts to Newton (who has since retired) of what happened on the night of the alleged sexual assaults in the London hotel room.
All three then players told Newton the sex acts with the complainant, E.M., were consensual — a defence narrative that didn’t seem to help the Crown’s case, which is centred on consent.
Former Crown lawyer Nick Cake, now a criminal defence lawyer in London, is not involved in this case but is watching it closely.
He says one possible reason the Crown entered the men’s previous statements into evidence is to set the stage for cross-examination. If the defendants do eventually testify, the Crown would be able to ask about inconsistencies that may damage the men’s credibility and reliability.
“Further, the Crown may lead this evidence to show that the defendants who did choose to speak with the police perhaps intentionally left things out,” Cake said.
But, he adds, that’s a weaker argument because people don’t have a duty to participate in their own investigation.
“The players had no duty to speak to the police or to the Hockey Canada investigators, but rather, they chose to,’ he said.
“If they answered the questions that were asked and didn't pro-offer any other information, that may not weigh as heavily as the Crown may want it to weigh.”
Good morning. I’m a producer based in Toronto and I’ll be curating our live page.
Our team of reporters on the ground in London will be covering all the latest developments at the trial again today.
Proceedings are set to resume at about 10 a.m. ET.
If you want to get caught up on how yesterday unfolded, click here.
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