WARNING: This post contains graphic details.
Assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunnigham has said there were 18 inconsistencies in the testimony from Howden.
But Carroccia ruled on Wednesday that there were only four.
The first inconsistency Carroccia found involved Howden’s testimony about watching E.M., the complainant, take Alex Formenton, one of the defendants, into the bathroom of the hotel room.
Howden testified on Tuesday that he watched the woman take Formenton into the bathroom. But in 2018, speaking to Hockey Canada investigators, Cunningham says Howden explicitly said when she walked to the bathroom, he didn’t even watch her.
Another inconsistency was about Howden’s interaction with Formenton before he went to the bathroom.
Howden testified that before Formenton went into the bathroom with the woman, he asked Howden: “Should I be doing this?”
But in a 2018 statement, Cunningham said, Howden gave much more specific details of what Formenton said.
According to that statement, Cunningham said, Formenton also asked if he would get in trouble for doing this: “Am I OK to do this? Am I allowed to do this?”
Another inconsistency relates to Howden’s response given to Formenton as Formenton and the woman went to the bathroom.
Cunningham said Howden testified that he didn’t really remember, but that everyone was kind of just leaving it up to him to decide what to do.
But in 2018, Cunningham said Howden gave more details and that his response to Formenton included comments like “if she wants to have sex with you, like, I guess it’s OK” and “if she’d consent and she wants you, then sure.” He also said in 2018 that “all I said to him was like, if she consented, you can if you want. But it’s like, it’s up to you, kind of thing.”
The fourth inconsistency relates to how Howden felt when Dillon Dubé is alleged to have slapped E.M., the complainant, on the buttocks.
Cunningham said Howden testified he didn’t remember how he felt. But she said that in a 2022 interview with Hockey Canada investigators and a 2023 interview with London police, he provided more details.
In 2022, for example, he said seeing that smack “was drawing a line for me to leave because I had felt uncomfortable to that point.” And in 2023, he said that seeing the slap “was basically the thing that finally pushed me out the door.”
