LONDON, Ont. — The detective who conducted the first investigation of the alleged sexual assault involving five former NHLers in 2018 did not have knowledge of a group chat in which players discussed the event, court heard on Wednesday.
Det. Stephen Newton, who is now retired, opened the investigation shortly after "E.M.," as the complainant is known because of a publication ban on her name, came forward to London police at the end of June 2018.
The group chat, which included players who were in Room 209 at the Delta Armouries in the early hours of June 19, 2018, was cited as evidence earlier in the trial, including a text from Michael McLeod inviting players to his room for a "3 way."
In his 2018 video statement to police, McLeod said he didn't send any text messages for players to come to his room.
On Wednesday, court also was shown a police interview video featuring Alex Formenton from Nov. 24, 2018. Formenton told Newton in the interview that he returned to the Delta because he had received a text message from McLeod, who was his roommate, telling him he had a girl in the room who wanted to have a threesome. Formenton said he believed the text had been sent only to him.
Formenton said, when asked by Newton to produce the text message, that he couldn't because he had a new phone.
When he arrived at the room along with Carter Hart and Robert Thomas, Formenton said McLeod, Jake Bean and Dillon Dube were in the room, while E.M. was on one of the beds, fully clothed. He said Thomas left after about five minutes.
"She seemed pretty happy. I mean, she was talking to guys," Formenton said in the video.
Formenton said he went to the washroom with E.M. after taking her up on her offer to have sex. He said after he and E.M. had sex in the washroom, she went back into the room, and he had a shower and brushed his teeth. Not long after that, he saw McLeod filming a "consent" video with E.M. He remembered that most of the players had left by this point.
During his 36-minute video statement, Formenton did not mention seeing Dube slap the woman's buttocks.
Dube's interview with Newton was also played for the court on Wednesday. In the 30-minute audio recording, which was from a conference call with Dube and his then lawyers, Dube did not mention to Newton about slapping the woman on the buttocks. The court heard earlier in the trial that Dube had slapped the woman's buttocks.
Newton asked Dube if there was any point during the night that the woman seemed like she didn't want to be there.
"No, I think at that point I was almost (thinking), like, she was coming at us, almost," Dube said in the audio recording of the call. "I feel like she was chirping us for not doing anything with her, which I thought was weird."
Before court broke on Wednesday, assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham questioned Newton as to whether he informed E.M. during one of three interviews that she had been "actively participating" that night. Newton did say in the first interview with E.M., on June 22, 2018, that he had "concerns about the level of consent and her active involvement."
Newton closed the case without laying charges in February 2019.
McLeod has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to aiding in the offence. Dube, Cal Foote, Formenton and Hart have each been charged with one count of sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty to their charges.
The trial, now in its sixth week, is expected to continue Thursday with more witnesses. Cunningham said before court broke for the day that she had "late-breaking events" that might lead to another witness testifying. She said she would confirm next steps for the Crown in court in the morning.
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