In first appearance at Hockey Canada trial, E.M. describes drunkenness and discomfort

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LONDON, Ont. — The woman at the center of the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial recounted a “chaotic“ night of drinking and dancing, in which she said she felt “claustrophobic,” “surrounded” and “uncomfortable.”

It was the first time the jury saw or heard from the complainant who said she was sexually assaulted by multiple players in a London, Ont., hotel room in June 2018. The players and other members of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their championship run. Her testimony on Friday centered around the events leading up to the alleged incident and gave jurors insight into her state of mind in the hours before. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote are all facing sexual assault charges stemming from the alleged incident. All five players pleaded not guilty to charges last week.

Those five players encountered almost two dozen protestors gathered near the entrance of the courthouse, holding up signs and chanting “Break the silence! Stop the violence!” as they and their legal teams entered the building Friday morning.

Testifying via closed-circuit television from a different room within the courthouse, E.M. — whose name is protected by a publication ban — recalled being nervous about hanging out with new friends on June 18, 2018.

She said she was hesitant to go out but reluctant to turn down an invitation from her co-workers because it felt like a potential opportunity to get to know them better. She drank two Mike’s Hard Lemonades as she got ready after work, which helped her feel a bit more relaxed, she said.

When she arrived at Jack’s Bar — a popular drinking establishment on Richmond Street — she had four shots in a short time, trying to calm her nerves.

It was the beginning of a night of drinking that, she said, lowered her inhibitions, left her off balance and with blurry vision.

She described a chaotic scene, with loud music and a packed dance floor.

“I was becoming less aware of my surroundings, my vision was a little blurry,” she said. “Mentally, I felt all over the place.”

In recalling that night, E.M. appeared nervous, admitting as much as she apologized several times when asking to have surveillance footage played back.

As Crown Attorney Meaghan Cunningham questioned her about that night, she described being approached on the dance floor by a young man. After they danced for a little bit, he brought her over to meet another guy. His name was Mikey, she said. E.M. later identified him as McLeod.

After taking several shots with “Mikey,” she said she was already quite drunk. E.M. said that over the course of the night at Jack’s she had eight shots, one mixed drink and one beer.

“Mikey” was part of a group that she noticed seemed to stay together wherever they went, from the dance floor to the bar.

“They seemed close. They were really dancing together all in a group on the dance floor or going back to the bar together, getting shots and drinks,” she said. “They were moving as a group.”

At the bar, an older man — whom she believed to be in his late 30s —  seemed to buy drinks for the group, and poured a shot into her mouth, she said.

The man acted as “wingman” for McLeod, she said. She recalled the man telling her that McLeod was a “really good guy” and that she should “take care of him.”

On the dance floor, E.M. said she danced with McLeod, while the group of young men surrounded her. She described their actions as “odd” and not something she was used to experiencing in a bar.

“I felt uncomfortable. They kept taking turns dancing with me. Everyone was really close together. I was feeling very sandwiched in,” she said. “Just a lot of passing back and forth, I don’t even think I was even aware at some point who I was dancing with. … They circled all around me and I was in the center of that.”

It felt odd, she said, that “Mikey” seemed OK with the other guys grabbing at her and pulling her away to dance with them. One would pick her up. And then others would push into her from both sides. There was a lot of uncomfortable touching. They grabbed her hand and tried to move it to their crotches, she said.

In one clip, one of the men pulls on her ponytail. In another part of the video, a man picked her off the ground, lifting her up around his waist. At a different part of the clip, another man smacks her on the buttocks. E.M. told Cunningham that she could not recall any of those incidents.

In a video taken from McLeod’s phone, E.M. saw herself smiling, eyes closed inside a circle of the young men. She was very intoxicated, she said, and didn’t realize the video was being taken. Watching another video, which featured a crush of dancing bodies and strobing lights, she identified herself and recalled what she was feeling at the time: “It just felt very claustrophobic.”

She and McLeod kissed at the bar, she said. She said he mentioned he wanted to take her home and that he “couldn’t wait to have fun with me.” Initially, she said she was attracted to him. But as the night went on and she became more inebriated, she felt the need to “regroup” in the bathroom. She hoped going to the bathroom might give her a way out of telling him no.

She said she felt that because of their interactions for much of the night, he assumed they’d be going home together.

“In general, I’m just someone who has a bit of a hard time saying no and I don’t like upsetting others and then when I’m drunk I think that kind of really shows,” she said.

She said she felt OK going home with him, but said she wouldn’t have done so if she hadn’t been drunk.

“I thought it was maybe easier to kind of go along with that than to say no,” she said.

E.M.’s testimony for the day ended with her and McLeod arriving at the Delta hotel.

Prior to E.M.’s testimony, Boris Katchouk — a member of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team who now plays for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League — told jurors that he arrived to the Delta Armouries hotel shortly after 2:20 a.m. on June 19, 2018.

He was heavily inebriated, he said, because he’d celebrated his birthday and the team’s gold medal.

Katchouk said he saw McLeod standing outside his room on the second floor, and he invited him in. Once there, McLeod asked Katchouk if he wanted a “gummer” (“gummer” is slang for oral sex.)

The 26-year-old Katchouk said that he saw a woman on the bed, underneath the covers. Cunningham asked Katchouk who else was in the room when McLeod asked him if he wanted oral sex.

“It was just me and Mikey,” Katchouk said. “She was there on the bed as well, sorry.”

Asked about his reaction to McLeod’s question, Katchouk told Cunningham he had a girlfriend at the time, so “there was nothing for me to really think about it.” He said he couldn’t recall if the woman made any kind of reaction when McLeod made the comment.

“I believe I just laughed and didn’t really talk about it after that,” he said.

McLeod left the room and a short time passed before he returned with Taylor Raddysh (another member of the 2018 team who was staying in the next room), Katchouk said.

Katchouk testified that the three teammates spoke briefly in the room, before Raddysh said, “Bo let’s get out of here.”

And then they left, Katchouk said.

Raddysh, who now plays for the Washington Capitals, also testified remotely.

Raddysh said he was only in the hotel room for a few minutes and didn’t know whether the woman he saw on the bed, under the covers, was clothed or not; he said he only observed her trapezius muscles.

The 27-year-old Raddysh answered questions by relying on a transcript of a July 2018 statement he made to investigators regarding the events from that weekend, and said that at one point during the early-morning hours of June 19, 2018, he heard “talking,” “chattering,” “hooting” and “hollering” from the room next door to his, which was McLeod’s hotel room.

(Courtroom sketch of defendants and Justice Maria Carroccia early in the trial / Alexandra Newbould / The Canadian Press via AP)

This news was originally published on this post .

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