By Paul D. Grant
Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault.
LONDON, Ont. — On Thursday, the complainant in the sexual assault trial involving five former NHL players was subjected to intense questioning regarding who was responsible for the alleged events of June 2018.
The woman, identified as “E.M.” in court documents due to a publication ban on her name, testified remotely via CCTV, responding to questions from Daniel Brown, the lawyer representing Alex Formenton.
Brown suggested that on the night in question, after consuming several drinks to help “Sober E.M.” relax and become “Fun E.M.” (using her real first name, which is protected by the publication ban), an alternative persona emerged.
At one point during Brown`s cross-examination, E.M. stated, “I don’t know that I like the alter ego.”
Brown pressed on, saying, “`Fun E.M.’ doesn`t think about whether it is a good idea or a bad idea to cheat on her boyfriend. `Fun E.M.’ didn’t think of the consequences. ‘Fun E.M.’ went off to a hotel with a guy she barely knew.”
E.M. acknowledged taking responsibility for going to the Delta Armouries hotel with Michael McLeod. She had previously testified that she was uncomfortable with what transpired after consensual sex with McLeod.
“You said you blamed yourself for many years about what happened to you,” Brown stated. “You no longer blame yourself. Who do you blame?”
“I still have some blame,” E.M. replied.
Brown then asked, “Do you believe that it’s easier to deny your deliberate choices than to acknowledge the shame, guilt and embarrassment that you felt about your choices?”
E.M. responded, “I’m not sure I agree with you. I have a lot of blame for myself but I think other people should be held accountable for that night.”
Brown revisited earlier testimony where E.M. claimed the men she met at the bar paid for all her drinks that night. He pointed out she had purchased some Jagerbombs with a friend before encountering McLeod.
“Who is to blame for ‘Sober E.M.’ becoming ‘Fun E.M.’?” Brown questioned, marking his turn as the third lawyer to cross-examine E.M. in four days. “Is that E.M. or Mr. McLeod or Mr. Formenton or Mr. (Carter) Hart or someone else? Whose fault is that?”
E.M. reiterated that she was accountable for her decision to drink.
“It was your choice to get drunk?” Brown asked.
She replied, “I should be allowed to (have drinks) and not worry about having something bad happen.”
Earlier, E.M. was cross-examined by Megan Savard, who represents Carter Hart. Savard challenged E.M. on the specific words used shortly after the alleged incident. She sought clarification on whether E.M. heard the men in the hotel room say, “C’mon, don’t leave” or “She’s crying, don’t let her leave” when she attempted to leave the room on June 19, 2018. Savard suggested the latter phrase was altered to sound more “criminal.”
“I stand by it,” E.M. asserted. “I was just trying to get the words out. They didn’t want me to leave and they made sure I didn’t by walking me back to the bedsheet.”
Savard countered that the detail about crying during that night was only mentioned during testimony this week.
“The reason you invented this story of the men saying, ‘Don’t let her leave, she’s crying’ (is because) you want it to be more likely that the jury will see this as worse than it was,” Savard claimed.
“I am saying my truth, my story,” E.M. responded. “I’m not trying to make it seem any worse now. … I have no reason to come up with a worse version.”
Savard pressed E.M. to locate a reference in her 2018 statement to the London Police Service indicating the players saw her crying. When later asked to read from her statement, E.M. read a section where she told Det. Stephen Newton that the men in the room could be heard saying “she’s crying.”
“Thank you for finding that,” E.M. said.
Michael McLeod, 27, faces two counts of sexual assault, including one related to aiding the offence. Dillon Dube, 26, Cal Foote, 26, Alex Formenton, 25, and Carter Hart, 26, are each charged with one count of sexual assault. All defendants have entered pleas of not guilty.
Cross-examination is scheduled to continue on Friday.
Editor’s note
If you or someone you know is in need of support, those in Canada can find province-specific centres, crisis lines and services. For readers in the United States, resources and references for survivors and their loved ones can be found.
