LONDON, ONTARIO — A judge has ruled that a 2018 text message between two members of Canada’s world junior hockey team will not be admitted as evidence in the ongoing sexual assault trial involving five former teammates.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia announced her decision Monday, stating that Crown prosecutors failed to meet the legal threshold required under a hearsay application to admit the text exchange between NHL players Brett Howden and Taylor Raddysh.
The message, sent on June 26, 2018 — days after the alleged group sexual assault — included Howden’s graphic recollection of events in a London, Ontario, hotel room. In the exchange, Howden referred to one of the accused, Dillon Dube, “smacking this girl’s ass so hard,” adding, “I’m so happy I left when all the s–t went down haha.”
Prosecutors had hoped the text could be used to compensate for Howden’s admitted memory lapses during his recent testimony. However, Justice Carroccia emphasized the message’s unreliability and lack of sworn authenticity, saying Howden, who appeared emotional on the stand, was “scared and nervous” at the time and “can’t vouch for it to be factual.”
The Crown had previously attempted to introduce the message under a separate “past recollection recorded” application, which the judge also rejected. Carroccia reiterated that assessing the truthfulness of such statements is particularly challenging outside of court and without oath.
The text was a central focus of a voir dire — a legal hearing held to determine admissibility — where Howden faced questions about the night in question and his subsequent recollections.
Five players — Dillon Dube, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Callan Foote — have all pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault. McLeod also faces an additional charge of being a party to the offence.
According to testimony, the incident occurred after a celebration marking the team’s 2018 gold medal win. The complainant, referred to in court documents as E.M., met McLeod and others at a downtown bar on June 18. She later returned to McLeod’s hotel room, where she says she had consensual sex with him before being subjected to non-consensual group sex involving the others.
While defence lawyers have suggested E.M. was more sober and willing than she claims, alleging she sought a “wild night,” the complainant has rejected those assertions. She testified that she was intoxicated, felt coerced into staying, and was ultimately “disrespected and taken advantage of” by the group.
The trial, now proceeding by judge alone after two juries were dismissed, is expected to continue over the next several weeks.
