Detective, last witness at Hockey Canada sex assault trial, says not adding to E.M.'s trauma was top of mind

WARNING: This article references sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone impacted by it.

The detective in charge of the second London, Ont., police investigation that led to sexual assault charges against five former world junior hockey players testified Monday about how "overwhelming" it was for the complainant to hear in 2022 that the 2018 case was being reopened.

Det. Lyndsey Ryan, a defence witness, was the last person to testify at the trial, which began in late April in the southwestern Ontario city.

"I got the sense that this was opening up some wounds that she was trying to close," Ryan said about the complainant, known as E.M. in court due to a standard publication ban.

Over days of testifying as a Crown witness and under defence cross-examination, E.M. gave her account of what happened on the night of June 18, 2018, and early into the next day. Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote and Carter Hart have pleaded not guilty to alleged sexual assaults at a hotel while in London for a Hockey Canada gala celebrating their team's world championship.

Ryan told court she went to E.M.'s home in July 2022 to tell her police would be reopening the investigation they closed in February 2019.

"She was quite upset ... I think it was a bit overwhelming. She wasn't expecting us [police]," Ryan said. 

Ryan's testimony offered a brief glimpse into why the case was reopened 2½ years after the London Police Service closed the initial investigation without laying any charges.  

Ryan first testified before lawyers for the defence and then was asked questions by Crown lawyer Meaghan Cunningham on Monday. 

It's been a trial filled with unexpected turns and procedural and technical difficulties. There's been a mistrial, the discharging of another jury after the mistrial, and the decision to proceed by a judge alone (Justice Maria Carroccia, who's presided over the proceedings from the beginning). As well, court staff have had to deal with computers that frequently failed — including during testimony by E.M., who spoke via closed-circuit TV (CCTV) from another room in the courthouse, and while other witnesses were speaking remotely. 

With cases on both sides wrapped, there are no further proceedings this week and closing arguments will begin June 9. 

Christopher Sherrin is a criminal law professor at London's Western University who isn't involved in the world junior trial but has been following it.

Sherrin told CBC that "closing submissions can be vitally important."

"It is truly the opportunity to present the picture that you think is the best picture of the evidence to the judge in a succinct, coherent, persuasive form."