Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers.

The complainant in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial said she was intoxicated and felt it was easier to go with a 2018 world junior player to his hotel room than say "no" when she began her Crown testimony for the jury on Friday in London, Ont.

This testimony is part of a trial that sees five members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Championship team – former NHLers Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote – each being charged and pleading not guilty to one count of sexual assault. McLeod also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault as party to the offense.

The charges are connected to a June 2018 incident in which E.M., the complainant whose identity is protected by a publication ban – alleges she was sexually assaulted in a London, Ont., hotel room following a Hockey Canada gala.

E.M. gave her testimony via CCTV video feed from another room inside the London courthouse, with Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham providing her questions from the main courtroom on the 14th floor. 

The presiding judge, Justice Maria Carrocchia, told the jury the complainant appearing virtually has “nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of the accused,” and there is nothing to take from it.

E.M. said she finished her second year of university and was working in London before the night of June 18, 2018. 

“During my shift at work, it was discussed that a few of us would go out later that night to a bar,” E.M. said, clarifying it would be Jack’s Bar, where she initially met McLeod and other members of the world junior team.

Once at the bar that night, E.M. says she was eventually introduced to McLeod through another man she could not identify, but she said he looked to be in his mid- to late thirties at the time. From there, E.M. says she grew increasingly intoxicated and had several alcoholic drinks with McLeod and others from the team.

At first, E.M. was unaware of who the group of men was.

“Later on, I pieced together that they played hockey together,” E.M. said. “They were a group of hockey friends.”

When security footage shown in the courtroom moved to Jack’s dance floor, E.M. watched and noted how the team members were treating her, with McLeod at one point sandwiching her between himself and a teammate, and at another point, E.M. was picked up twice by one man and spun around.

E.M. said there was “a lot of uncomfortable touching.” Cunningham asked E.M. to elaborate on what she meant by this.

“They would move my hand to touch their crotch area,” E.M. said.

Throughout much of her testimony, E.M. consistently mentioned her increased levels of intoxication, and when asked by Cunningham how many drinks she consumed that night, E.M. said that she had 11 drinks in total – one shot of tequila, eight Jagerbombs (Jagermeister mixed with Red Bull), one vodka soda and one beer – and that isn’t including the two coolers she said she consumed before heading to Jack’s. 

"Mentally, I felt really just all over the place," E.M. said. “I don’t even think I knew at certain points who I was dancing with.”

The complainant also said she has a hard time saying “no” because she does not want to upset others.

Cunningham continued to show the complainant security footage from Jack’s dance floor and asked how she felt toward McLeod that night. E.M. said that she felt like he was interested, but she eventually tried to go to the bathroom to regroup and try to sneak away. 

However, she said McLeod walked her to the bathroom so she didn’t have the chance. The complainant says she eventually gave in to spending the night with McLeod, saying it would be easier to just go along with it rather than say no. 

“I just accepted that since we’d been close that night, it was fine. I’d go to the hotel,” E.M. said.

From there, the complainant was shown footage of her leaving Jack’s with McLeod before more video footage showed the two arriving and walking through the lobby of the Delta Armouries Hotel. E.M. once again expressed how intoxicated she was at this point and how it affected her mental state. 

"I feel like I didn’t recall getting to the hotel all that much," she said.

Hockey Canada Sexual Assault Trial: NHL Player, Detective Testify As More Videos And Texts Shown Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers.

Raddysh And Katchouk Testify

Two members of the 2018 world junior team also testified for the Crown on Friday. 

The first was the continuation of Taylor Raddysh’s testimony from Wednesday. 

The current Washington Capitals right winger, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, went through a 2018 transcript of an interview he did regarding the case, with Cunningham reading the interviewer's quotes and Raddysh reading what he had said back then. He was asked if he had heard anything from McLeod’s room – which was next door to his own. 

"There was talking and chattering and hooting and hollering type of thing," Raddysh said.

Following the defense’s cross-examination of Raddysh, the Crown’s next witness, 2018 team member Boris Katchouk, testified via video feed. He is also not accused of any wrongdoing.

Katchouk said that at one point, he was invited to McLeod’s room and was asked by McLeod if he “wanted a gummer.” 

“It is a blowjob,” he clarfied when asked by Cunningham. 

Katchouk said he made nothing of it and that he had a girlfriend at the time.

“I believe I just laughed and didn’t really talk about it after that,” Katchouk said about whether he responded to the alleged offer.

Katchouk said he was eventually left alone in the room briefly with just the woman who was in McLeod’s bed. Katchouk said the woman asked if she could have a bite of his pizza, and he did not give her any pizza.

During a cross-examination by defense attorney David Humphrey, Katchouk said the woman seemed to be comfortable and even agreed with Humphrey that she appeared “flirty” in ways.

The trial is expected to continue on Monday with further testimony from E.M., followed by the defense’s cross-examination of the complainant.