RECAP | Judge alone will decide fate of ex-world junior players in sex assault trial after jury discharged
The Latest
- Justice Maria Carroccia for a second time discharged the jury at the trial of five former Team Canada world junior players.
- The trial will proceed before a judge alone, meaning determining the guilt or innocence of the accused men will be up to Carroccia.
- Earlier, we heard more testimony from a former teammate of the accused.
- Tyler Steenbergen testified E.M., the complainant, was asking players to have sex with her on the night of the alleged assaults.
- The accused — Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod — have all pleaded not guilty.
- WARNING: Court proceedings include graphic details of alleged sexual assault and might affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who's been affected.
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Updates
May 16
- Lucas Powers
That’s it for this week
Court has ended for the day, so we’re winding down our live updates.
If you’re just getting here, be sure to scroll down to get caught up on an especially memorable day in the ongoing trial in London, Ont.
Court is set to resume on Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET. Until then, have a good long weekend.
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As court wrapped up for the day, Lisa Carnelos, a lawyer for defendant Dillon Dubé, has been questioning Steenbergen, trying to make the same point other defence lawyers made: that E.M. was actively seeking to engage sexually with the players.
Carnelos says the woman was “boldly asking for sex,” to which Steenbergen agrees.
“And that was unforgettable to you,” Carnelos asks.
“Yeah,” Steenbergen says.
He’ll be back testifying on Tuesday.
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A text from Carter Hart to a group chat that began after Hockey Canada started its investigation. A record of the group chat was entered into evidence at the trial. (Superior Court of Ontario) Sayani refers Steenbergen to the group chat and Hart’s assessment of what happened that evening, that “nobody did anything wrong” and they got consent for anything they did.
Steenbergen agrees with that assessment.
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Carter Hart outside the courthouse with his defence team, Megan Savard and Riaz Sayani. (Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press) Riaz Sayani, lawyer for Carter Hart, one of the men on trial, is now questioning Steenbergen.
Sayani asks Steenbergen about Hart receiving oral sex from the woman.
Steenbergen agrees the woman seemed to facilitate it, was enjoying it and it lasted about 30 seconds to a minute.
Steenbergen also agrees the slap of the woman’s buttocks was more playful, not abusive.
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Steenbergen testifies he believes the woman's oral sex with McLeod was very brief.
He agrees with Zhang that after that, she then went to the bathroom. Steenbergen says that a short time later, he left the room.
He confirms to Zhang that now that the woman was no longer on the floor, there was a clear path to leave, without possibly interacting with her.
“She was being vocal of what she wanted, and I didn’t want any of that.”
Steenbergen also says he had no knowledge of the two “consent videos” that had been made with E.M. and only found out about them in the group chat exchange with other players.
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Testimony resumes with what happened in hotel room
WARNING: This post contains graphic details.
Before court took a short break, Steenbergen said, as he testified previously, that when no one took the woman up on her offer for someone to have sex with her, she referred to the guys as “pussies.”
However, he said McLeod and Carter Hart did, eventually, agree to receive oral sex from her.
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Technical difficulties
Court is on another short break as staff try to fix an intermittent problem with the video feed of Steenbergen, who is testifying remotely from Alberta.
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Lawyer Anna Zhang, who is on Michael McLeod's defence team, cross-examines Tyler Steenbergen today. He's testifying remotely. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC) WARNING: This post contains graphic details.
Steenbergen agreed with Zhang that at one point, the woman went on the floor and masturbated, that no one had told her to do that and at one point she encouraged men to engage in sexual activity.
Steenbergen previously testified she then said: “Can one of you guys come over and f–k me.”
He said he had been trying to not pay attention to the woman, but that caught his attention.
“I had never seen or heard that before.”
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Zhang now is asking about Steenbergen being inside the hotel room.
He agrees he didn’t go into the room looking to engage in any sexual activity with a “girl” as the lawyer called her, (he had a girlfriend) and he was shocked when he saw a naked woman in the room.
He agrees with Zhang that the naked woman didn’t appear upset, wasn’t crying and wasn’t falling over.
But he also agrees with Zhang that the woman didn’t seem shocked to see other men in the room.
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Defence cross-examines ex-world junior teammate Steenbergen
Tyler Steenbergen is testifying remotely from Alberta, where he lives. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC) Proceedings are back underway after the lunch break and defence lawyer Anna Zhang, who represents Michael McLeod, is cross-examining Steenbergen.
Zhang asks Steenbergen about his time at Jack’s bar.
He confirms the woman he saw with McLeod in the bar was the same woman he saw in the hotel room where the alleged assaults occurred.
He also agrees with a statement he made in 2018 — that the woman was “hanging off” of McLeod — and agreed with Zhang’s characterization that she was "fawning" over him and was expressing interest in him.
The former hockey player also agreed with Zhang that there was nothing “unusual’ about her demeanour and she wasn’t “falling over” in terms of her level of intoxication.
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