Alleged victim in 2018 World Junior case misidentified one player who ends up being current Panther!
This was revealed in court on Wednesday after the afternoon break and left the alleged victim in tears. More below:
The court was adjourned on Wednesday when the E.M., the complainant in the sexual assault trial of five ex-members of Canada’s world junior hockey team was cross examined by Carter Hart’s attorney Megan Savard.
After suggesting that E.M. was a willing participant who wanted “the party evening to continue” and making up the allegations as a cover story for cheating on her boyfriend, who is now her fiancé, Savard grilled E.M. about her misidentifying a player when she first reported the assault.
When asked if she had trouble distinguishing between the men who assaulted her in the hotel room, E.M. agreed with Savard that she had trouble distinguishing between them because “a lot of them look alike.” She has said several times that she was worried about misidentifying the men in the hotel room because she knows these are serious accusations, but she was trying to be helpful to police.
Savard then asked how E.M. misidentified one player, bringing up the name of Jonah Gadjovich, who was also on the 2018 world junior team. He currently plays for the NHL’s Florida Panthers and does not face any criminal charges in the world juniors case.
Gadjovich’s name was mistakenly added to an appendix in E.M.’s civil lawsuit in 2022, though he is not accused of participating in the alleged assault. E.M. was therefore accused by Savard of not taking great care with who she was naming.
“I wasn’t intentionally trying to do that,” E.M. says.
The confrontation left E.M. in tears as Savard kept pressing on what she said about Gadjovich in the Hockey Canada statement and the statement of claim.
“I don’t know what you’re asking here,” E.M. says.
She begins crying, saying it’s been a long day and she doesn’t understand what Savard is getting at or asking.
Here is the link to the breakdown of the cross-examination by CBC. Warning, this can be tough to read:
Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod have all pleaded not guilty. The court will be back in session on Thursday morning.
