Videos in hockey players' trial highlight misconceptions about consent: law experts
As five former Canadian world junior hockey players await a ruling in their sexual assault trial, legal experts say videos shown in court of the complainant saying she was OK with what had happened highlight a broader misunderstanding of consent and sexual assault law in Canada.
Two cellphone videos in which the woman says she's 'OK with this' and that 'it was all consensual' were presented as evidence during the trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote.
All five men have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault after an encounter in a London, Ont., hotel room in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018. McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia is expected to deliver her ruling on Thursday in the case that saw consent emerge as a central issue.
Prosecutors have argued the complainant did not voluntarily agree to the sexual acts that took place, nor did the players take reasonable steps to confirm her consent. The Crown has dismissed the videos taken of the woman that night as 'token lip service box checking,' arguing she felt she had no choice but to go along when a group of men she didn't know started asking her to do things inside the hotel room.
Defence lawyers, meanwhile, repeatedly challenged the complainant's credibility and reliability as a witness, arguing she was an active participant in the sexual activity and made up the allegations because she didn't want to take responsibility for her choices that night.
Video statements such as the short clips shown in this trial aren't necessarily evidence of consent, said University of Ottawa law professor Daphne Gilbert.
'Legally speaking, they have very little relevance because consent has to be ongoing and contemporaneous with the sexual activity and you have to be consenting to every single thing that is happening to you,' said Gilbert, who researches sexual violence and abuse in Canadian sports.
'There's no such thing as advance consent. And there's no thing as after-the-fact consent, either. So just because you say, 'Yeah, it was all consensual' doesn't mean that makes it so.'
Lisa Dufraimont, a law professor at York University, said such videos could also be seen as hearsay because they don't contain statements made under oath in court.
'If the complainant got on the stand at the trial and testified that they consented at the time, that would be evidence that they consented at the time,' said Dufraimont, whose research focuses on evidence issues in sexual assault cases.
But she said the videos could be used for other legal arguments, including those that may rely on a description of how a defendant or complainant was acting at the time.
'It may be that if the video is taken close in time to the alleged sexual assault, that the video shows something about the person's level of intoxication or their emotional state, which may or may not be consistent with what they later reported their emotional state was at the time,' said Dufraimont.
During the trial, the Crown argued that the videos shown in court weren't proof that the complainant voluntarily agreed to what had taken place.
'The recording of that video is not getting her consent to anything. Everything's already happened,' prosecutor Meaghan Cunningham said about the video in which the woman said it was 'all consensual,' adding that consent must be communicated for each specific act at the time it takes place.
Only one of the accused, Hart, took the stand in his own defence, and court heard or watched interviews three of the others — McLeod, Formenton and Dube — gave police in 2018. People accused of crimes are not required to testify, nor is the defence required to call any evidence, as it is up to the Crown to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In McLeod's 2018 interview with police, he told a detective that he recorded one of the videos because he was 'just kind of worried something like this might happen.'
On the stand, Hart testified that consent videos aren't unusual for professional athletes.
Gilbert, the University of Ottawa law professor, said Canada in general still has work to do in educating young people about consent, especially in sports. She's involved in efforts to teach youth about consent through school programming, but said professional hockey in particular is behind on enacting policies to address the issue.
Consent should be 'enthusiastic, affirmative, ongoing, coherent' — yes means yes, said Gilbert.
'I think people don't understand that that's actually what the law requires. And so if you know that, if you think about that as the way that we should approach consent, then I think it's easier to understand why those videos don't mean much.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025.
Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
a minute ago
- CBC
NHL, players' union differ on eligibility of acquitted former junior players
The NHL released a statement on Thursday saying the behaviour of the former junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault this week was unacceptable even if it was not found to be criminal. For the moment, they're ineligible to play in the league, but the players' union believes they should be able to resume work.
CBC
3 minutes ago
- CBC
Suspect vehicle in fatal Lincoln, Ont., hit-and-run found burning in Mississauga: police
The suspect vehicle in a fatal hit-and-run that killed an 82-year-old man in Lincoln, Ont., last week was found burning in Mississauga, police said Friday. Police are now searching for a 50-year-old man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for second-degree murder, police said. On July 17 around 9:45 a.m., Larry Pearce, 82, was struck by a man attempting to steal his vehicle and exit the parking lot of Charles Daly Park in the Town of Lincoln, just west of St. Catherines, Niagara Regional Police Service said in a release last week. Pearce had been driving out of the parking lot when he was stopped by the man, police said. The two had an interaction and Pearce got out of his vehicle, a grey Honda CRV, before the man jumped in and attempted to drive off, police said. Pearce tried to stop the man but he was struck by the vehicle and fell to the ground, police said. He was rushed to hospital where he later died. Niagara police later identified the suspect as a 50-year-old man of no fixed address. As recently as Tuesday, police said they believed the suspect was still operating the victim's vehicle after he was spotted with his dog, a pit bull-style breed with white fur and black and brown markings, in Mississauga. On Thursday, Peel Regional Police said in a release that officers discovered the victim's stolen vehicle on fire in the area of 1875 North Sheridan Way in Mississauga. Investigators determined the vehicle had been driven into the green space off Springbank Road at approximately 8:20 p.m. Thursday, before it was intentionally set on fire, police said. "A lone individual was seen walking away from the area shortly thereafter," Peel police said in the release. Police have not yet located the suspect. Police are appealing to people in the area of North Sheridan Way, Springbank Road, and Sevenoaks Drive in Mississauga, who may have seen or heard anything suspicious between 8:10 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on July 24, to contact investigators. Anyone in the area who may have relevant surveillance or dashcam video is also asked to come forward. Investigators do not believe the suspect is still with his dog, police said.
CBC
3 minutes ago
- CBC
Winnipeggers call for crackdown on scrap dealers buying stolen metals
Social Sharing Some Winnipeggers are calling on the authorities to do a better job at enforcing laws meant to make it hard for thieves to sell bike parts and other scrap metal for money. The Scrap Metal Act requires buyers to keep records on transactions involving used items made out of copper, iron, steel and other metals. It came into effect in 2022 with a goal of cracking down on this type of theft, particularly when involving catalytic converters. But some advocates said Friday the theft of copper and other materials as well as bikes is still rampant. They say police should be ramping up enforcement to prevent people's property from winding up in a junk yard. "The theft of wire, theft of copper plumbing as well, from vacant houses is a serious, serious issue. It's a symbol of the deterioration of our city," said activist Sel Burrows. "We need to throw the book at that." Burrows, co-ordinator of the Point Powerline community tip line in North Point Douglas, said some scrap yards are part of the problem. "Everybody focuses on the front-line criminal, but we also need to look at who's buying stolen goods," he said. Winnipeg police urged to crack down on scrap-metal-related thefts 4 hours ago Bike and copper theft continues to be a problem throughout the city, despite provincial legislation that was designed to make it harder to sell the stolen goods, and there's a growing call for better enforcement. "These are businesses quite often, and they need to be held accountable. If there's no market for things like burnt wire, they won't steal and burn the wire." The Scrap Metal Act requires buyers to record every transaction involving scrap metal and keep the records for two years. They also must provide that information to police if asked. Winnipeg police said in a statement there are ongoing efforts to clamp down on metal theft, including "the involvement of vendors in the conversion process for financial gain." Metal theft 'a serious problem,' minister says Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the province is working with law enforcement to tackle the issue. "This is a serious problem," he said, adding that this type of theft puts peoples' lives at risk. "If you're stealing copper wire, it's dangerous," Wiebe said. "We know it's resulted in serious injuries and obviously impacts the community." Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, said better enforcing the laws would discourage thieves from stealing bikes for their parts. "We know that that bikes are being stolen, sort of turned into scrap and sold for that," he said. "If that's your mode of transportation … having your bike stolen also really discourages people from riding." Cohoe said people should remember to register their bikes, so they have a chance to get them back if they're stolen.
