Hockey Canada trial: Fear, not consent, drove woman's actions, Crown says
Article content
And so is 'why some people feel that victims aren't treated fairly in the criminal justice system,' said Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham during her closing argument at the high-profile Superior Court trial.
Article content
Article content
Cunningham, on the second day of her closing argument, took aim Thursday at the criticisms from the defence teams of five teammates from the gold medal team, that the 27-year-old woman presented herself during her nine days of evidence as someone with an agenda who ultimately can't be believed.
Article content
'She can't win,' Cunningham said.
Article content
Article content
'She's either too emotional – she's combative. If she's not emotional enough, she's rehearsed. If she refuses to agree with suggestions, she's combative and difficult. But if she does agree, she doesn't know her own mind. If she uses the same language at multiple points, it's contrived, but if she uses different language, she's inconsistent.'
Article content
Cunningham said this strategy by the defence 'finds its roots … in this myth of the ideal victim, that there is a right way for someone to look or sound when they're describing sexual assault, that there's a correct way or a good way for a real victim to testify.'
She argued the complainant, whose identity is protected by a court order, has been consistent in her answers and urged Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia to find the woman forthright and truthful.
Article content
The five players – Michael McLeod, 27, Carter Hart, 26, Dillon Dube, 26, Cal Foote, 26, and Alex Formenton, 25 – all members of the 2018 championship team who went on to professional careers, have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault . McLeod also has pleaded not guilty to a second sexual assault count for being a party to an offence.
Article content
Article content
They were charged in early 2023 after London police reopened its investigation into what occurred in Room 209 of the Delta Armouries hotel in London on June 19, 2018, during a Hockey Canada gala and golf tournament.
Article content
The woman, then 20, met McLeod at Jack's bar on Richmond Row and returned to the hotel with him for consensual sex. She testified she was drunk and was shocked, after the sexual encounter with McLeod, when several teammates assembled in his room, where she says she was sexually abused and assaulted without her consent.
Article content
She said she was drunk and had a trauma response that caused her to separate her mind from her body to cope with the sexual demands of the players.
Article content
The defence contends the woman was the aggressor who begged and taunted them for sexual activity. Some players took advantage of her offers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
7 minutes ago
- National Post
10 Thoughts: Roughriders assert dominance in win over Alouettes
Article content In Week 9 of the CFL season, the Green and White improved to 7-1 with a 34-6 victory over the Montreal Alouettes, in what was Saskatchewan's most convincing win of the year. Article content Article content Here are the top 10 takeaways from the victory: Article content 10 Thoughts Article content 1. Saturday's game was billed as a potential Grey Cup preview by some but it's hard to really consider it that with Alouettes starting quarterback Davis Alexander sidelined with an injury. The Alouettes have a top defence and while McLeod Bethel-Thompson has plenty of experience in the league, Alexander is the more explosive quarterback. Missing top receivers Tyson Philpot and Austin Mack didn't help either. Article content 2. The Roughriders solidified their Grey Cup-contender status with their current lineup led by quarterback Trevor Harris, who continued his strong start to the season. Harris completed 19 of 27 passes for 289 yards with two touchdown passes and was effective on his short, medium and deep passes. Hard to ask for much more especially when he's protecting the football like he has been. Article content 3. Harris completed 70.4 per cent of his passes on Saturday, which marked the 11th game in a row with at least 70 per cent completion rate. That extends his CFL record and maybe that was the reason he stayed in the game when it was out of reach in the fourth quarter as he completed two short passes to get over that 70 per cent mark. Article content 4. Short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens showed his value on the opening drive of the game. Not only did he secure first downs on two third-down gambles, but he plunged into the end zone for the game's first touchdown. On one 'sneak,' Stevens picked up seven yards and you have to wonder if he went wide every time how many yards/touchdowns he could get. Can't get greedy, I guess. Article content 5. Montreal has always been a tough place to play for Saskatchewan. Not this year though. The last time the Roughriders won in Montreal, Harris was the quarterback for the Alouettes. That was in 2021 and Harris replaced an ineffective Matthew Shiltz at quarterback but couldn't lead the Alouettes to a comeback win. Article content Article content 6. While it wasn't necessarily an eight-sack performance like last week against the Edmonton Elks, Saskatchewan's defence made life tough for Alouettes quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who was intercepted and sacked twice. In fact, Bethel-Thompson was so ineffective, the Alouettes tried Caleb Evans at quarterback. That short-lived experiment didn't work so MBT came back and finished the game and should have been intercepted twice more by Riders' safety Nelson Lokombo. Article content 7. Montreal was probably trying to capture some magic they found in 2024. Last year, the Roughriders led 16-3 in Montreal at halftime and an ineffective Evans was replaced by little-known Alexander at half. Alexander went on to lead the Alouettes to a 20-16 comeback win, which was the first step in him becoming the club's franchise quarterback.
CTV News
37 minutes ago
- CTV News
Roughriders soar past Alouettes 34-6 in CFL power clash
Saskatchewan Roughriders' A.J. Ouellette, left, gets by Montreal Alouettes' Wesley Sutton (37) during first half CFL football action in Montreal, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes It was billed as a clash between the CFL's top two teams, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders proved a class above defeating the Montreal Alouettes 34-6 on Saturday. Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against one of his former teams and Dohnte Meyers had 182 all-purpose yards as the Riders improved to 7-1, four points up on the 5-3 Calgary Stampeders. The Roughrider defence was also great, holding the Alouettes (5-3) to under 170 yards and no touchdowns, while forcing three turnovers. The Riders had 412 yards of offence. A crowd of 21,654 at Percival Molson Stadium in Montreal witnessed the West Division-leading Riders move to 4-0 on the road. It was the Roughriders first win in Montreal since Oct. 30, 2021, snapping a two-game losing streak in Quebec and three games against the Alouettes overall. Saskatchewan opened the scoring with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens' one-yard touchdown run on an opening drive aided by a 46-yard return on the opening kickoff by Meyers and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Alouettes. They also had two third-down conversions by Tommy Stevens on the drive. It was the only scoring in the first quarter. The Alouettes had more yards of defensive penalties (30) than offensive yards (28) in the opening quarter. The loss drops them to second place in the East Division, two points behind the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Roughriders doubled their lead on their first drive of the second quarter, a nine-play, 69-yard drive ending with a Harris touchdown pass to Tommy Nield with 8:35 remaining. Montreal finally got on the board with 5:15 remaining in the first half when Jose Maltos hit a 56-yard field goal to make it 14-3. Saskatchewan answered right back with a field goal of their own, set up after a long 58-yard pass and catch from Harris to Meyers. The Alouettes had a promising drive to open the third quarter, but it stalled just into Saskatchewan territory setting up another 54-yard field goal from Maltos to make it an 18-6 game. It could have been worse for Montreal as the second down play was initially ruled as a fumble before the call was overturned into an incomplete pass. After another Saskatchewan field goal by Brett Lauther, Montreal turned the ball over on downs setting up Harris's second touchdown pass of the night to KeeSean Johnson to open up a 28-6 lead late in the third quarter. The game's second half was delayed close to 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm in the area, and the rain continued to start the third quarter. Montreal was playing its fourth game of the season without starting quarterback Davis Alexander. They are 1-3 in those games. McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Alexander's replacement, went 15 for 26 for 126 yards and an interception and was briefly replaced in the third quarter by Caleb Evans. Both teams were dealing with key players missing. Saskatchewan was missing receiver Samuel Emilus. In addition to Alexander, Montreal was without receivers Austin Mack and Tyler Philpot, while defensive back Kabion Ento was a late scratch and safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy left the game with an injury. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2025.
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Roughriders improve to 7-1 with convincing 34-6 win over Alouettes
The Saskatchewan Roughriders left no doubt on Saturday night. Article content In Week 9 of the CFL season, the Roughriders improved to 7-1 on the year with a convincing 34-6 win over the Montreal Alouettes, who dropped to 5-3. Article content Article content Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris completed 19 of 27 passes for 289 yards with two touchdown passes. Dohnte Meyers led all receivers with five catches for 136 yards while Tommy Nield and KeeSean Johnson caught touchdown passes. Running back A.J. Ouellette had 74 yards on 15 carries. Article content Article content Saskatchewan's defence made life tough for Alouettes quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson as he was intercepted by linebacker Jameer Thurman while also being sacked twice by defensive linemen Shane Ray and Mike Rose. Bethel-Thompson finished the night having completed 15 of 26 passes for 126 yards. Saskatchewan's defence also allowed just 59 rushing yards. Article content Right from the opening kickoff, the Roughriders controlled the game on Saturday night. Article content After a 46-yard kick return by Meyers, the Roughriders put together a seven-minute drive, going 54 yards on 10 plays, with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens plunging into the end zone from one yard out to make it 7-0. Article content In the second quarter, the Roughriders made it 14-0 as Harris engineered a nine play, 69-yard drive capped off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Nield, who was making his first start of the season in place of the injured Samuel Emilus. The Alouettes got on the board with five minutes left in the half as kicker Jose Maltos nailed a 56-yard field goal to make it 14-3. Article content Article content On Saskatchewan's next drive, Harris hit Meyers for a 58-yard gain up the sideline before Brett Lauther kicked a 17-yard field goal to make it 17-3. Article content Article content On Montreal's next possession, the Roughriders defence got the ball right back as Thurman intercepted Bethel-Thompson near midfield. However, Saskatchewan's offence was forced to punt it away and the 78-yard punt by Joe Couch went into end zone for a rouge to make it 18-3. Article content In the first half, Saskatchewan's defence limited Montreal to 80 yards of offence and just five first downs. The Roughriders offence had 212 net yards and 13 first downs while leading time of possession 20:14 to 9:46 Article content After a 25-minute lightning delay during halftime, the Alouettes cut into the lead by three points early in the third quarter as Maltos made a 54-yard field goal to make it 18-6. Article content On the ensuing drive, Saskatchewan's offence picked up where it left off as Harris hit Meyers for a 32-yard gain, which put the second-year receiver over 100 yards on the night, before Lauther hit a 32-yard field goal to make it 21-6.
