Jury in sexual assault trial shown video of players at bar

LONDON, Ont. — A number of former and current NHL players appeared in phone and closed-circuit videos taken at Jack’s bar that were shown in court from the night of June 18, 2018, during the second day of the sexual assault trial here Tuesday. In testimony continued from Monday, the Crown’s first witness, Det. Tiffany Waque of the London Police Service, verified the origin of the videos as well as identified to the jury, when asked, each of the players inside Jack’s bar as each video played in the courtroom. Appearing at various points in the bar with “E.M.,” the complainant in the case, and others were Michael McLeod, Tyler Steenbergen, Drake Batherson, Cale Makar, Maxime Comtois, Dillon Dube, Jake Bean and Cal Foote. Some of the videos shown were identified as being from the phones of Batherson and McLeod. The continuity and verification of the videos had previously been agreed to by the defence. McLeod, 27, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to aiding in the offence. Dube, 26, Foote, 26, Alex Formenton, 25, and Carter Hart, 26, have each been charged with one count of sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty to their charges. The other players identified in the videos by Waque have not been charged with a crime. Testimony was delayed Tuesday afternoon by technical issues and the high temperature in the courtroom, and is expected to resume with more testimony on Wednesday.