Video at ex-world junior hockey players' sex assault trial shows an accused, woman entering hotel | Breaking News and Top Canadian Stories

Video at ex-world junior hockey players' sex assault trial shows an accused, woman entering hotel — Sex assault trial of 5 ex-junior hockey players begins Court is being shown surveillance footage from the Delta lobby, of groups of players arriving a...

Sex assault trial of 5 ex-junior hockey players begins

Court is being shown surveillance footage from the Delta lobby, of groups of players arriving at the hotel at the end of the night.

The videos are time stamped in the early hours of June 18, 2018, between 2 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. Just after 3 a.m., we see McLeod picking up what looks like a food delivery in the lobby.

Court also saw a text of a group chat among the players, which the jury heard about in the opening statements. Then someone suggests “rippers anyone?” and a little while later that text from McLeod the Crown spoke about, which says, “Who wants to be in a 3 way quick” and is signed “209- mikey.”

Someone using Carter Hart’s phone replies, “I’m in.”

At 3:14, a bunch more players arrive in the lobby. Dubé comes in from outside, without a shirt on, with others.

After a lengthy black-and-white video of the players dancing as a group and with E.M., the jury sees footage of McLeod and E.M. leaving Jack’s bar together between 1:20 and 1:40 a.m.

At around 1:45 a.m., the two are seen on a lobby camera walking into the Delta hotel.

The court is being shown more video of dancing and singing, and general revelry at Jack’s bar.

One video taken at 1:17 a.m. by McLeod in selfie-mode shows him singingHotel Room Serviceby Pitbull. E.M. is dancing near him and Foote is also in the frame, as is Colton Point, another member of the team who went on to an NHL career.

In another video, taken on Drake Batherson’s phone in selfie mode, Batherson, Foote, Howden and Maxime Comtois sing, “Hey, hey baby, will you be my girl?”

The music also appears in several videos from McLeod’s phone, with everyone happily singing along at 1:21 a.m.

Also in the videos E.M. is seen, as are world junior teammates Point, Boris Katchouk, Sam Steel (now with the Dallas Stars) and Tyler Steenbergen.

Now testifying is London police Det. Tiffany Waque, who’s leading the court through video evidence.

On the screen is a black-and-white video of a crowded dance floor at Jack’s bar in the early hours of June 19, 2018.

There’s a strobe-light effect, so it’s kind of hard to make out the faces, but Waque identifies Michael McLeod as well as E.M. as a couple of people in the video. They appear to be dancing together. He is quite a bit taller than her.

We’ve previously heard the video was taken by surveillance cameras at Jack’s between 1 a.m. and 1:20 a.m.

The temperature in the courtroom is significantly cooler today, so court officials hope there won’t be the same problems with overheating technology as there were yesterday that led to the early end to the day.

A reader reached out to ask if the public is allowed in the court to watch the proceedings, or is it restricted to media.

The answer is yes, the public is allowed (although it’s very crowded with family members also there).

Members of the public can also sit in the overflow room to watch the proceedings.

We are hearing a lot of names in court of hockey players who were part of Team Canada in the 2018 IIHF world junior championship but who are not charged in this case.

London police Det. Tiffany Waque has identified some of them in surveillance videos from Jack’s bar, as well as videos taken from a player’s phone.

Here’s where they are now:

Some of these players are expected to testify during the trial.

Phone and surveillance videos presented as evidence have shown players celebrating their world junior win at a London bar after a Hockey Canada gala in June 2018.

There’s also a focus on the complainant, something of particular interest to Shannon Moroney, a Toronto-based author, trauma therapist and survivors’ advocate.

“I'm going to be watching closely to see how the complainant on the stand is treated, and if she is subject to the typical tropes and allegations against her character that we so often see in these types of trials,” says Moroney.

“I'm also going to be watching to see on the defence side what their strategy is for this. I'm fearful that this is going to be a trial that is about pushing blame around in so many different directions that nobody actually ends up taking accountability.”

In the video footage, the players are seen dancing, drinking, mugging for the camera and in some cases chatting with the complainant, known in court as E.M.

The Crown urged the jury to keep an open mind about what sexual assault — and consent — can look like.

Too often in court, Moroney says, it can become more about poking holes in testimony and looking for technicalities than searching for the truth, “and it can feel much more like it is the complainant who is on trial than the actual accused.”

Moroney says that’s why many people don’t come forward with sexual assault allegations.

“You have to be a perfect victim on the stand.”

Good morning. I’m a writer and editor based in Kingston, Ont., and I’ll be curating your live page updates again today.

Once again, we have multiple reporters at the Ontario Court of Justice where the sexual assault trial for five former Canadian world junior hockey players continues this morning.

On Tuesday (a day plagued with technical difficulties), the jury saw surveillance video from inside Jack's bar on London’s Richmond Row.

Today, the jury is expected to hear more testimony from London police Det. Tiffany Waque about videos taken at Jack's bar and in the lobby of the Delta hotel, where E.M. and the men ended up at the end of the night.

Proceedings are expected to start around 10 a.m. ET. Stay with us as we bring the latest developments throughout the day.

Audience Relations, CBCP.O. Box 500 Station AToronto, ONCanada, M5W 1E6

Toll-free (Canada only):1-866-306-4636

It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.

Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered onCBC Gem.