RECAP | Photos of ex-world junior hockey players flashing championship rings shown at sex assault trial

Hi readers.

We’re wrapping up our live coverage of today’s events as court ended early.

Scroll down to get caught up on what happened today. We’ll be back in the morning with more updates for you.

As well, we appreciate this topic may be difficult. There are support services available.

If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​

Because it is lunch time and election day, the jury has been sent home early.

Normally, we would break for lunch right now and come back after 2 p.m.

Today, Carroccia has dismissed the jurors so they can vote in Canada’s federal election and they’ve been told to come back tomorrow at 10 a.m.

That’s when we’ll be back covering the case as well.

Join us then for more live coverage.

Court is shown several different angles from inside Jack’s bar. In one, there’s a long bar and a group of men arriving.

“Why was this video included?” the Crown asks the detective.

“It’s showing the group of players going up to the bar. They appear to be ordering something.”

There are other shots and angles of inside the bar, including of E.M. inside. At one point, she orders two more shots and drinks them.

There’s another video angle of E.M. at the ATM and speaking to someone.

We watched some video of E.M. dancing. It’s in black and white and sort of hard to make out because of the strobe light.

The next video played by Waque was taken between 11:20 and 11:40 p.m., outside Jack’s bar. A group of guys (I counted 16) shows up and walks past the lineup to get in, many wearing backward baseball caps. Some are fist-pumping.

“Who are these guys,” asks the Crown? “Members of the world junior championship team,” the detective replies.

The men have their ID’s checked and they go inside the bar. Two different camera angles are shown, one from outside the bar looking onto Richmond Street and the other just above the front door of the bar, inside.

After a brief recess to deal with a technical issue, Waque has returned to the witness box.

She’s showing video of E.M. arriving at Jack’s bar on Richmond Street in London at around 11 p.m., standing in line, then going inside with her friend and going to the ATM before getting a drink at the bar.

E.M. and the friend do two shots.

The courtroom is silent as we watch the video. The surveillance footage is in colour and easy to make out who is who. There is no sound.

There’s a big screen for the gallery (including the media) to watch. The jury has screens in front of them, and each defence table and Crown table also has two screens each as well.

A reminder that each of the accused men has a legal team representing them.

Waque’s first order of business is to show pictures taken the evening of June 18, 2018.

The first is a picture of Batherson, holding out his fist, which is in the foreground. On his finger is a world junior championship ring.

The next is a picture of five players together, standing in a line, holding out their fists, each staring at the camera and holding out their world junior championship rings. In the photo is Formenton, Batherson, McLeod, Conor Timmins and Tyler Steenbergen.

The third and final shot is of what looks like pretty much the whole team, holding out their rings. The photos were taken at the Delta, the officer says.

Timmins currently plays for the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

An agreed statement of facts means neither the defence nor the Crown disputes them.

So here’s what's been agreed to:

• At the time of the alleged incidents, Room 209 was registered to McLeod and Formenton.
• The date of the alleged incident is admitted to be June 19, 2018.
• The continuity and authenticity of the video from Jack’s bar and the Delta hotel are admitted.
• In 2022, police were given five videos from Drake Batherson’s phone ((He currently plays for the Ottawa Senators).
• McLeod gave police two videos in 2019 that were made in his hotel room on June 19: one recorded at 3:25 a.m. and the second 4:26 a.m. The continuity and authenticity of those videos are admitted.
• In 2022, police were given Snapchat videos from McLeod’s phone. One was taken between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., another at 1:17 a.m., and another at 1:21 a.m. It is one continuous video in three segments and its authenticity is admitted.

The jury is also given a sheet that lists who is in each screenshot of the Jack’s bar surveillance video, as well as a sheet that lists people who can be seen in the lobby of the Delta and what time they are seen in the lobby.

After a short recess, we’re back and Det. Tiffany Waque is about to testify.

She will show videos from Jack’s bar and the Delta hotel lobby.

There are also some agreed statements of fact being read out in court by assistant Crown Heather Donkers. The agreed facts make the proceedings go quicker because the Crown and defence don’t have to argue them.

Waque has been a police officer with London Police Service since 2012. She has her duty book notes with her to refer to during her testimony. This is standard.

One aspect to keep in mind when watching this trial with us is how it’s brought more scrutiny to the game. The woman complainant in this case is known as E.M. in court, but we can’t give any other information about her due to a publication ban.

Julie Lalonde is a victims’ rights advocate based in Ottawa who’s interested in seeing the public conversation about this trial.

She points out how “Canada’s game” has become a metaphor in the federal election and the fight against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff and sovereignty threats, and hopes Canadians can look past the heightened sense of loyalty and patriotism to the evidence presented in court.

Hockey “is absolutely something that people can enjoy that is really part of the sort of fabric of Canadian society, but it does have systemic issues of sexual violence, of misogyny, but also of homophobia, of racism,” Lalonde says.

“We know that it's a sport like many others that is rife with issues. And there seems to be a real defensiveness from the average person to acknowledge that, because it seems sort of like unpatriotic in some way to be anti-hockey.”

“But it's not about being anti-hockey, right?” says Lalonde. “It's about being anti-violent, and it's about recognizing that the world of sport can foster leadership skills and team-building skills, but it can also breed solidarity amongst people who are abusive, who are homophobic, who are awful towards women. And I really want to see Canadians in particular kind of separating their feelings about hockey from the reality of what we're facing in front of us.”

National pride should not trump objectivity, fairness and justice, she adds.

Donkers wraps up her statement by saying there may be moments when the jury will find it difficult to put themselves in E.M.’s shoes.

She also tells the jury: “Be vigilant, and do not allow yourself to be tempted by the myths and stereotypes that are pervasive in society about how victims of sexual assault should behave.

“What jury service demands of you is an assessment of the evidence based only on what the law is, not what you thought the law was, or what you think it should be or what popular media may have led you to think.”

The Crown closes by saying the jury should listen to the evidence and apply the law thoughtfully.