Video footage of a London police detective interviewing Michael McLeod, one of the defendants in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, was shown in court on Tuesday.

McLeod is one of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team – the other four being Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote – who each face a charge of sexual assault. The charges are in relation to a June 2018 incident in which a woman, referred to in court documents as E.M., alleges she was sexually assaulted in a London, Ont., hotel room following a Hockey Canada gala.

All five men pleaded not guilty to their charges, with McLeod pleading not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault as party to the offense.

On Tuesday, the Crown called its next witness, London Police Service detective Steve Newton, to testify via Zoom. Newton spent 32 years as an officer with the London Police, and at the time of the incident, he was working in the sexual assault and child abuse unit. 

After Newton provided some background on himself and how he initially contacted the Hockey Canada players for interviews, the Crown displayed video of an interview Newton had with McLeod and his lawyer, David Humphrey, in Toronto, Ont., on Nov. 17, 2018.

In the video, Newton began the interview by telling McLeod he currently didn’t “have any grounds to arrest you or charge you at this point” and that “as far as I'm concerned, you're here under your own free will.” However, he did say the interview could be used as evidence if there were ever a trial in the matter.

The two eventually began discussing when McLeod and E.M. got back to the Delta Armouries hotel, after McLeod said they left Jack’s Bar at “around 1:20 or 1:30” in the morning. 

McLeod told Newton he and E.M. had engaged in consensual sex once back in his hotel room, and that afterwards, a few of his teammates had come to hang out in the room. 

At that point, McLeod said he went down to the lobby to get food that he ordered, but when he got back, he said E.M. was “giving Carter Hart oral sex, on the bed, and she seemed completely fine with it.”

McLeod said in the interview that after E.M. finished giving Hart a “blowjob,” she began asking other men to engage in sexual acts with her as well.

“She got on the bed and said, ‘Who wants to have sex with me?’ ” McLeod said. “Like ‘who's gonna step up and have sex with me’ kind of thing.”

McLeod said Formenton eventually took E.M. up on her offer, but that “he didn’t want to do it in front of us at that time,” so Formenton and the complainant went to the bathroom. But as the discussion of the sexual acts continued, McLeod said to Newton that E.M. seemed very willing and happy to do what she was doing.

“She just seemed excited, like she wanted to do the stuff with the guys,” McLeod said in the video.

(On May 12, during E.M.'s testimony in the trial, a defense lawyer for Formenton asked her whether she remembers saying, "Are you going to f--- me or play golf?" E.M. said she had no recollection of saying that, nor did it sound like something she'd say. She also denied a suggestion that she led Formenton to the bathroom, saying she went to the bathroom herself and Formenton followed.)

The detective and McLeod also discussed two videos taken in the hotel room of E.M. saying “Yeah, I’m OK,” and “this was all consensual,” which were shown during the trial multiple times. 

McLeod told Newton he hadn’t been part of anything like what allegedly went down in the hotel room, so he wanted to make sure E.M. was OK with what was happening.

“I took that first video just to make sure she was OK with it,” McLeod said.

McLeod then said he took the second video after he and E.M. had showered together, explaining that she seemed “sober” during the filming of both videos.

As the 2018 interview neared its end, Newton asked McLeod what he would do if this situation – the alleged incident – ever happened again.

“Probably just shut it down right away,” McLeod said.

“Because it’s open to interpretation by all parties involved?” Newton asked.

“Yeah,” McLeod replied.

Judge In World Junior Trial Rules Text Exchange Between Two NHLer Witnesses Is Inadmissible Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes graphic details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers.

'I Guess Things Aren't Fair, Are They, Mr. Howden?'

Before Newton began his testimony, the cross-examination of  Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden finished up. Howden had already testified for nearly six days when Foote’s lawyer, Julianna Greenspan, continued her questioning on Tuesday.

Greenspan showed Howden security footage from the dance floor at Jack’s, which showed him dancing closely with E.M. before he eventually introduced her to McLeod. Greenspan made suggestions that Howden was kissing her on the neck, but Howden said the footage was difficult to make out. 

Greenspan then called back to an interview Howden did with investigators on July 3, 2018. In that interview, Howden said he “never said anything to her really,” despite the security footage showing the two together on the dance floor and at one of the bars in Jack’s.

Howden said those moments with E.M. were “one minute or two minutes of a long night” and that with all the drinking and fun he was having with teammates, those moments hadn’t really stuck out. 

He then said it wasn’t “fair” of Greenspan to suggest he purposely downplayed his interactions with E.M.

“I guess things aren't fair, are they, Mr. Howden?” Greenspan said.

Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham interjected at this comment. The presiding judge, Justice Maria Carroccia, told Greenspan to move to a different question. 

Greenspan moved on, suggesting Howden lied to Hockey Canada in 2022 that he allegedly received a phone call from Cal Foote in 2018, where Foote told him not to mention his name. Howden denied this, saying that he did, in fact, receive the call.

The trial is expected to resume on Wednesday with the continuation of Newton’s Crown testimony and potentially his cross-examination by the defense.