Overview

• Five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team—Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Cal Foote—pleaded not guilty to sexual assault over an alleged non-consensual group encounter in a London, Ont., hotel room on June 19, 2018.
• The Crown’s attempt to introduce Brett Howden’s June 26, 2018 text describing Dube slapping the complainant’s buttocks was rejected under hearsay rules after the judge questioned its reliability.
• Defence lawyers are cross-examining Howden to underscore gaps in his memory of the night and examining bar surveillance showing him dancing with and patting the complainant before the hotel incident.
• A videotaped November 2018 police interview with McLeod was played in court, during which he said he repeatedly checked the complainant’s willingness and recorded videos of her affirming consent.
• Proceeding before a judge alone after two mistrials, the eight-week trial has moved into detailed witness testimony and is set to continue through late June.