Defence lawyer accuses E.M. of ‘taunting and threatening’ world junior players

Content advisory: This article includes graphic language and details of alleged sexual assault

A lawyer representing Dillon Dube, one of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team who have been charged with sexual assault, suggested Monday that while someone slapped the complainant on the buttocks during a sexual encounter in Michael McLeod’s hotel room, the slap was “playful.”

During cross-examination on her seventh day of testifying, E.M., whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was questioned by Dube’s lawyer, Lisa Carnelos, about the events of June 18 and 19, 2018.

McLeod, Dube, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Callan Foote have been charged with sexually assaulting E.M. in McLeod’s hotel room following a Hockey Canada event in London, Ont. McLeod faces a second criminal charge of being a party to the offence. The players, who face up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted, have all pleaded not guilty.

Carnelos is the fourth of five lawyers to cross-examine E.M. and she began her time on Monday morning by suggesting that E.M. was “taunting and threatening” the “boys” and called them “p---ies” when they would not have sex with her.

The Crown has said that following a night of drinking and dancing at a bar in downtown London, E.M., who was then 20, returned with McLeod to his hotel room where they had consensual sex.

After that, E.M. has alleged that as many as 10 men visited McLeod’s hotel room over the course of the evening and that she was sexually assaulted by a number of them.

E.M., who is now 27, has also testified that several of the men suggested to E.M. that she put golf balls in her vagina and asked if she “could take” an entire golf club inside of her.

E.M. has testified that she took on a "porn star persona" to make it through the evening and has said that she cried and tried to leave the hotel room several times but players instead guided her back to a bed sheet that had been placed on the floor.

“You became upset when the boys would not take you up on your offers,” Carnelos suggested to E.M. on Monday.

“No, I explained that the anger and the frustration I was feeling was because when they weren't doing anything, I would try to leave and they still wouldn’t let me leave [the hotel room],” E.M. responded. “That's where I was becoming angry.”

Carnelos suggested to E.M. that a man slapped her after she asked whether he was going to have sex with her or play golf.

“And in response to the young man that you said it to, he slapped your butt on one occasion in response," Carnelos said. “It was playful, and in response to the slap you immediately said, ‘Are you going to f--k me or just play?’ or words to that effect. Agree with that?”

“No, I don’t agree with that,” E.M. responded.

E.M. has previously testified that she was drunk and felt trapped and threatened with so many men in McLeod’s hotel room. On Monday, Carnelos suggested to E.M. that the room, with two double beds, was actually larger than the standard-size hotel room.

“I felt I was just an object,” E.M. testified. “No one was speaking to me. They were speaking to each other. I just felt like I was there for their entertainment...I could hear them all talking loudly around me and to each other. I didn't know they were broken off into little groups, it all felt the same. I felt just surrounded.”

Following a lunch break, Carnelos grilled E.M. about a phone call and a series of text messages she sent to her best friend in the hours and days after the alleged sexual assault. E.M. did not initially share the details of what had allegedly happened with the hockey players.

After E.M. phoned her friend at around 5 a.m. on June 19, 2018, her friend texted E.M. at 5:02 a.m., writing, “Hey Ily [I love you], everything’s gonna be ok ❤️ Get home safe, get some rest & yeah if you wanna talk about it, text me in the morning ❤️ ❤️ ❤️”

E.M. did not immediately respond to the message.

“Let’s put this in perspective because [name redacted] is your best friend,” Carnelos said.

“I was just trying to bottle it up and move on, I didn’t want to think about it.” E.M. said.

"I'm going to suggest to you that if you had in any way shape or form felt that you had been sexually violated or assaulted that night, you would have said to your best friend, the one person in the whole wide world that you could discuss it with," Carnelos said.

Following an objection from Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham, Carnelos continued to press E.M. on why she did not immediately tell her friend the details of what had allegedly happened with the hockey players.

“I wasn’t trying to think about it, and that was part of how I was processing it,” E.M. testified. “I do still feel like my mom is probably my best friend and that’s who I was having those conversations with. I didn’t really want to admit that it was sexual assault, I didn't want to say those words because then it would be true.”

Carnelos reviewed a number of other messages between E.M. and her friend on June 22, after she finished an interview with London police.

“Just had a long ass day at the police station and then the hospital and now I have work rip so idk how I’ll be feeling later,” E.M. texted.

“Holy f--kkkkkkk what happened!?” her friend responded.

Carnelos asked E.M. again why she had not told her friend the details of her alleged sexual assault.

“I was keeping it to myself, I was trying to handle it on my own,” E.M. testified.

E.M. later texted her friend on June 22: “Pretty sure I was roofied tbh and my mom is taking it hella seriously contacting the police and s--t. The group of guys are all high up hockey players. Go figure LMAO,” E.M.

Carnelos asked E.M. to explain why she would write that she would be laughing about the situation.

“I’m just in disbelief that not only did this horrible situation happen, but [it's] even more complicated now that I know they're high-up hockey players.” E.M. testified. “It’s kind of ironic. Not … hilarious in the sense of the word, but just that I can't believe that. Not only that this happened, but also, they were high-up hockey players. Reporting something like that to police, it seemed like nothing will happen to them. They won’t get in trouble. ‘What’s the point?’ kind of thing.”

Carnelos’ cross-examination came after Dan Brown, an attorney for Formenton finished questioning E.M.

Brown suggested to E.M. that she had been “egging on” the players who were in McLeod’s room. The lawyer also asked E.M. about the sexual encounter between her and Formenton in the bathroom.

Brown suggested to E.M. that she pulled Formenton into the bathroom to have sex with her. (Brown said another witness during the trial would testify to this) Then, Brown suggested that, after she was in the bathroom with Formenton, she told him that she was indifferent about his using a condom because she was on birth control.

“It could have been,” E.M. answered. “I don’t recall any conversation.”

Brown asked E.M. if she remembered guiding Formenton’s penis into her because of their size difference.

“I don’t remember that,” she answered.

Brown then asked whether E.M. recalled apologizing to Formenton for her appearance because her chest had become sunburned after she had been tanning nude.

“I don’t know if I shared that with him,” E.M. answered. "I know I was sunburnt. I don't know why I would bring that up to him. I don't recall speaking about that.”

E.M. also testified she had trouble identifying a number of the men involved in the sexual acts during the evening, but had a definite memory of McLeod and Formenton because of the one-on-one sexual activity she had with them.

Brown also questioned E.M. on her weight the evening of the alleged incident. At the time of the incident, E.M. weighed 138 pounds, according to medical records cited by Brown. E.M. has testified that she weighed 120 pounds in June 2018.

Brown suggested to E.M. that she wanted the jury to believe she was much smaller than the group of men in the hotel room.

Brown also suggested to E.M. that she felt “scorned” by the players at the end of the evening because they had not offered to get her a cab and didn’t give her a hug.

“I wasn’t scorned,” E.M. answered. “I definitely felt disrespected. But I felt disrespected the whole night. So, I'm not sure why I thought the end would be any different.”

Carnelos finished her cross-examination late Monday afternoon. Julianna Greenspan, who represents Foote, will be the final defence lawyer to question E.M. on Tuesday.