Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault.
LONDON, Ont. — Michael McLeod said in a police interview video shown to court on Tuesday that he recorded consent videos of the complainant during the night in June 2018 because he was “worried something like this would happen.”
It marked the first time during the trial of five former NHLers accused of a 2018 sexual assault that one of the accused had spoken about the accusations.
McLeod made the comment in a video that court was shown of an in-person London police interview conducted Nov. 17, 2018, by Det. Stephen Newton, now retired, who appeared virtually and watched as the interview was played. Newton closed the first investigation in February 2019 without laying charges.
“It was a weird situation that I wasn’t expecting was going to happen,” McLeod told Newton in the 2018 video. “I was worried that something like this (a police investigation) would happen and I made sure she was OK with it.”
McLeod later added, “Throughout the night, I was trying to make sure she was OK with it.” He said later that he took the second consent video after he and E.M., as the complainant is known because of a publication ban, had a shower.
“I literally asked her, like, five times if she was OK,” he said in the 2018 video, the audio of which was hard to follow in court.
McLeod also said in the video, which was an hour and a half long and broken into two segments, that the Canadian world junior players were drunk “but not blackout drunk, by any means. We all had our heads on straight, for the most part.”
In an opening summary to police, McLeod said that after having sex with E.M., he came back to the room after picking up food in the lobby and saw E.M. was engaged in a sex act with Carter Hart. He also said E.M. later got on the bed and asked the players in the room, which he estimated to be eight or nine, if they wanted to have sex with her.
Newton asked McLeod how the men knew to come to his room.
“Were more guys coming because there’s a naked girl in the room doing sexual favours for guys?” Newton asked.
“I don’t think anyone said, ‘Come on over,’” McLeod replied.
McLeod said he didn’t send any text messages to come to his room.
“No, I just told guys I was getting food and I was with a girl,” he told the detective.
That account differs from evidence heard earlier in the trial. Court heard on April 30, when the trial was before a jury, that McLeod had sent a text to a group chat reading, “Who wants to be in a 3 way quick” that was signed “209- mikey.” Court also heard previously that E.M. was on a sheet on the floor of the Delta Armouries hotel room when talking to the players about having sex.
McLeod also said in the interview video that E.M. wanted to have sex with Alex Formenton but Formenton didn’t want it to happen in the room, so they went to the washroom and were there for 10-15 minutes.
Technical issues in the court interrupted the playback of the interview video several times.
In the morning, Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden concluded his testimony from Las Vegas. While questioning Howden about forgetting in a statement that he had met E.M. at Jack’s on June 18, 2019, Julianna Greenspan, who is Cal Foote’s lawyer, suggested Howden was intentionally minimizing how much contact and interaction he had with E.M.
“I don’t think that it’s fair that a couple minutes out of a whole night, that you just expect me to know this girl that I’ve met for the first time in my life,” said Howden.
“I guess things aren’t fair, are they?” Greenspan responded, which was followed by an objection by assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham.
McLeod has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to aiding in the offence. Dillon Dube, Foote, Formenton and Hart have each been charged with one count of sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty to their charges.
The trial, now in its sixth week, is expected to continue Wednesday with Newton still on the stand to answer questions from the Crown, followed by five lawyers representing the defence.
