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

A defense lawyer showed text messages between a work colleague and a woman who alleges five players on Canada’s 2018 world junior team sexually assaulted her in a London, Ont., hotel room following a Hockey Canada gala.

The accused players – former NHL players Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote – each pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault. McLeod pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offense.  

The complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban but is referred to as E.M. in court documents, answered questions via a video feed from another room in the London courthouse, as she has done since she began to testify on May 2. The five players once again sat with their legal teams in five rows of desks in a courtroom on the 14th floor.

As the day neared its close on Friday, Daniel Brown, one of Formenton’s defense attorneys, presented Facebook Messenger messages to the jury from a conversation between the complainant and her co-worker. 

The conversation between the two spans from when the two women were preparing to leave for Jack’s Bar, to the following morning after the alleged sexual assault had occurred.

E.M. and her co-worker initially met up with some other fellow employees at the bar. During the time E.M. was with McLeod and other players at Jack’s, she received multiple messages from her co-worker asking where she was, if she wanted a drink and if she needed any assistance. 

“Let me know if you want me to get you from the guy!!” Her co-worker messaged.

“Haha ok thank youu! I’m ok for now but I’ll let you know for sure!” E.M. replied

This conversation continued as well in the morning after the alleged assault occurred. The complainant’s co-worker checked if E.M. made it home alright, said they should go out again but also mentioned the world junior team members as well.

“You were having a blast with those guys so when I left I was like dw she’s definitely in good hands (laughing face emoji),” her coworker messaged. “And omg yes! We’ll go when there’s a good shot deal!”

“Haha ya they were funny (laughing face emoji) & yes for sure!!” E.M. replied.

In court, E.M. told Brown her colleague was a relative stranger, which was why she didn't say what allegedly happened that night. E.M. said something horrible happened to her, and she felt so much shame.

Brown suggested the shame was "for the choices you made," but E.M. disagreed.

“I made the choice to dance with them and drink at the bar and not make the choice to have them do what they did to me at the hotel,” she said.

Hockey Canada Sexual Assault Trial: Defense Suggests E.M. Goes From 'Sober' To 'Fun' Persona When She Drinks Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers.

Prior to these messages being presented, Brown compared the complainant’s police statement from June 2018, as well as a statement as part of a Hockey Canada investigation in 2022, to footage from Jack’s on the night of June 18 and the morning of June 19. 

Throughout this area of questioning, Brown pointed to specific events throughout the night he suggested contradicted her previous statements. This included how she had previously not mentioned the bouncer she interacted with at Jack’s that night, a friend of hers from high school. 

E.M. said she only didn’t include the bouncer in her initial statements because she felt he would have nothing to add, and she didn’t want to bring him into the situation.

Brown also questioned the complainant’s reasoning for spending time with McLeod initially at the bar. In particular, he asked what made her attracted to McLeod that night. E.M. responded that he was taller than her and that he “seemed attractive” to her.

"As long as it's a tall guy at this point in the night, you'll go home with them?” Brown said.

“No, that’s not what I said,” E.M. answered.

Through this and other lines of questioning, Brown kept calling into question the complainant’s memory of the night’s events. Eventually, the tone reached near-argumentative levels, with E.M. claiming Brown was attempting to “discredit” her. 

“I am giving you my truth,” E.M. said. “You push me for an answer. I say, ‘I don’t know.’ You try to discredit me. I say something else, you try to discredit me.”

Brown is expected to continue his cross-examination of the complainant Monday morning when the trial resumes.